Heads of State and Government for eight long years European Union (EU) and leading countries of Latin America and Caribbean no faces were seen at a bilateral summit. This will change with the European Union-CELAC summit that will take place in July. Brussels. EU wants the appointment to be a landmark “reunification” meeting that takes relations to the next level political together through a new strategic agenda aimed at strengthening political cohesion, trade and investment between the two blocs.
“It is true that Europe absorbed by more pressing problems such as To leaveimmigration issues (…) We went through an enlargement process that shifted the center of gravity further east and time passed and we did not raise our political relations to the level they deserve,” said European diplomat Josep Borrell during the presentation of the new agenda. “The relationship was underestimated after years without summits and even neglected In the geopolitical context, strengthening the relationship with the EU Latin America is a strategic imperative”, explained two blocs that represent 14% of the world’s population and 21% of world GDP.
Evidence of the European club’s commitment to the region is the proliferation of initiatives and outings in recent months. Borrell made five visits last year, and the next visit to the region will be European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Brazil, Argentina, Chili pepper And Mexican To advance relations with Latin America and support the new agenda. “We are key allies to strengthen and jointly defend the rules-based international order. democracy, human rights and international peace and security. We are also interested in strengthening our political cooperation and dialogue. climate change promoting an inclusive and people-centred digital transformation.”
Above all, Brussels wants to renew political partnership with the region at various levels: between the two regions, with each of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, with subregions and in multilateral forums. At the two regional level, the idea is to intensify the dialogue through more regular summits and a permanent coordination mechanism that allows for regular contacts to be established. In particular, they create spaces for political dialogue with the EU, Brazil and Mexico, which are “strategic” and with many countries that do not currently have them. “We want to improve collaboration and become partners of choice from being natural partners,” said Borrell, who came along with the vice president and head of trade portfolio. Valdis Domvrovskis.
More trade deals
Promoting more trade deals with the Latin American bloc is another big priority of the new agenda. Thanks to these agreements bilateral trade The Latvian announced that the volume of commercial goods, which increased by 40% between 2018 and 2022, was worth 369,000 million euros in 2022. The trade relationship has positioned the EU as the region’s leading investor, with 693,000 million euros in foreign direct investment supporting 2.7 million jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean and one million jobs in the Old Continent. “Our commercial relations and investment They create opportunities for both parties. But we can do more by working together,” he recalled.
The EU wants to continue pressing the accelerator in this area to sign and ratify the trade deal. Chili pepperFinalize the negotiator with Mexico and converge the agreed pact with the countries Mercosur. ” war inside Ukraine It opened our eyes too. We saw that we had to work with reliable partners and that the Latin American and Caribbean countries are very important,” he said, demanding the conclusion of new pacts, about which he gave some figures: just last year, EU trade with Mexico and Mercosur accounted for 65% of the total trade with the region. representing €240,000 million.
In the event of a deal with Mercosur, Brussels hopes the pieces of the puzzle will come together in July and the deal can be steered definitively. “We think this summit could be a good moment to mobilize political support for the agreement. This summit should mark the way to completion of the agreement,” said Dombrovskis, without going into the Brazilian president’s claims, Lula da Silvain public contracts. “There has been quite a bit of commentary on the reopening of some points of the agreement by both parties. We think that the agreement should not be reopened because it has been negotiated for a long time. A carefully crafted balance has been established. “We do not recommend reopening the deal,” he said.