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The European-Latin American Summit: towards selective bilateralism?

27/05/2008 By Susanne Gratius

Fifth European-Latin American Summit
The Fifth European-Latin American Summit took place on 16 and 17 May in Lima. In this comment Susanne Gratius argues that the simple fact that the meeting took place was positive, as it reconfirmed the mutual interest in deepening relations despite a political climate that is not very conducive to consensus. The results were modest, but concrete.
 
Among them, it is worth underlining the idea to create a European-Latin American Foundation and the ultimatum given for the Andean Community to decide by the summer whether it wants to negotiate a “Free Trade-plus” agreement with the EU as a bloc or on an individual basis.
 
The debate on interlocution with Latin America reflects the EU’s growing distance from what were previously two of its own norms: inter-regional dialogue and the promotion of Latin American integration. Evidence of this can be seen in, on one hand, its strategic associations with Brazil and Mexico, and on the other, its free trade agreements with Chile and Mexico. A failure of the negotiations with the Andean Community and MERCOSUR would provide another test for selective bilateralism with the partners who hold greatest economic interest for the EU.


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Keywords

Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador EU EU Foreign Policy Europe European Union Guatemala Honduras Latin America & Caribbean Mercosur Mexico Multilateralism Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Regional Integration Uruguay Venezuela

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Bio author: Susanne Gratius

Susanne Gratius holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hamburg. Prior to joining FRIDE, she worked as a Researcher at the Department of the Americas at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and at the Iberoamerican Studies Institute (IIK) in Hamburg. Until 1999, she was Coordinator at the European-Latin American Relations Institute (IRELA) in Madrid.