The summit between the European Union and Latin America to be held in Brussels on July 17 and 18 (barely four days before the early elections) will be one of the highlights of the Spanish presidency of the Council. Pedro Sanchez The priority has been to promote greater economic, commercial and, above all, political rapprochement between the two sides after almost a decade of coldness: the last meeting of this type was in 2015. But the blocking of the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur could make derail the plans of the Prime Minister.
“No one doubts the mutual interest we have, no one doubts the intensity of our human relations, the enormous investment that European companies have made in Latin America. And yet, the political dimension of this relationship has been letting gofor reasons surely attributable to both parties”, explained the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrellduring the presentation this Wednesday of the New Agenda to strengthen the EU partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean, the document that will serve as a basis for discussion for leaders.
Among the causes of this distancing, Borrell has cited the “political fragmentation (in Latin America) with the case of the political crisis in Venezuela or the authoritarian drift in Nicaragua”. For its part, Europe “has been absorbed by more pressing problems such as Brexit or the migratory crisis.” In addition, since the last enlargement its “geographical and political center of gravity” has shifted “further to the East”.
[Sánchez le gana el pulso a Macron: la UE y Mercosur firman un acuerdo de libre comercio tras 20 años]
“Without realizing it, time has passed and we have not raised our political relationship to the level it deserves“, maintains the High Representative for Foreign Policy. At this time, the political change in many Latin American countries and the new geopolitical circumstances marked by the war in Ukraine and the rise of China “have accelerated the awareness that Europe cannot be a geopolitical actor if it does not take into account the relationship with Latin America“, he insisted.
Within this New Agenda, concluding the agreement with Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) “is a priority for the EU, since this bring the two regions closer together in a win-win partnershipwhich creates opportunities for further growth, supports employment and promotes sustainable development,” the document states.
The free trade pact between the EU and Mercosur was provisionally closed in June 2019 after 20 years of negotiations, but since then has been stranded by the reluctance of the two blocks. In Europe, France and Ireland (who want to protect their meat industry) demand new environmental guarantees. In Mercosur, the presidency of the ultra Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (accused of failing to protect the Amazon) prevented any progress.
However, the return to power of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, which in Brussels is considered a reliable partner, has not served to unblock the negotiations either. Lula rejects that European companies sell products and services to the public sector of his country without restrictions and demands to renegotiate the 2019 agreement. “If they do not accept Brazil’s position, there is no agreement”, said last week.
Europe and Latin America and Caribbean countries are partners of choice.
Today we propose a new agenda for a renewed partnership, also with the support of #GlobalGateway.
Looking forward to presenting it in ???????? next week.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 7, 2023
“The Commission’s recommendation is not to reopen the agreement. It has been traded for a long time and strikes a carefully crafted economic balance. If we reopen it now and disturb this balance, that would again lead to long negotiations with an uncertain result,” the economic vice president of the Community Executive, Valdis Dombrovskis, responded on Wednesday.
Brussels has sent the Mercosur countries a proposal to strengthen the environmental guarantees of the pact (especially in the fight against deforestation), whose objective is to surpass the reserves of France or Ireland. And he now hopes to receive a counter offer from the other side of the Atlantic shortly.
Josep Borrell, during the press conference this Wednesday in Brussels
Is it feasible that the agreement is definitively closed during the EU-Latin America summit in July? “If all the elements fall into place, that is within reach. But in any case we believe that the summit will be an important moment to mobilize political support in favor of this agreement. So, in any case, we must at least make significant progress at the summitset a clear roadmap towards its completion”, says Dombrovskis.
Brussels also wants to give a boost to the agreement already concluded with Chile and to the modernization of the pact with Mexico. “These agreements can bring real benefits. Just last year, EU trade with Mexico and Mercosur was 240,000 million euros, which represents 65% of total trade with the region. But we can do much more,” said the vice president.
These agreements also serve the EU to disengage from dependence on China for raw materials and diversify supplies. Brussels will work with those Latin American countries interested in establishing a World Club of Critical Raw Materials, which aims to bring together consuming and resource-rich countries to strengthen supply chains. To prepare for the July summit, the president Ursula von der Leyen He plans to travel to the region next week.
