Agreements and disagreements in the strategic Euro-Latin American association: Balance and asymmetry

• Main Author: Anna Ayuso
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) 2009-05-01
• Series: Revista CIDOB d'Afers Internacionals
• Subjects: Latin America; European Union; cooperation; regional integration
• Online Access: http://www.cidob.org/es/content/download/9334/94853/file/ayuso_85-86.pdf
• ISSN: 1133-6595; 2013-035X

Ten years on from the launching of the Strategic Association between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), it is time to carry out an assessment of its progress. During this period, many changes have taken place, both within each of the regions and in the international context, and these have affected different areas of the Association. There is awareness of the need to cooperate and develop the bi-regional association, but the expectations and incentives of the various countries and sub-regions are different. In the time that remains until the next EU-LAC summit, priority attention will be focused on the progress of the ongoing negotiations with the three blocs: Central America, the countries of CAN (Andean Community) and MERCOSUR (Mercado Común del Sur, or Southern Common Market). With respect to the two cooperation priorities, support for regional integration and social cohesion should be made integral components of the policies devised for the region. The definition of a more constructive EU role in light of the reshaping of the map of Latin American integration makes it necessary to identify the real incentives, and to this end generate synergies between the different cooperation instruments, based on greater policy coherence.