MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU underlines significance of global partnership with Latinamerica

Benita Ferrero-Waldner optimistic about closer links

The European Union wants closer links with Latinamerica and the Caribbean and will attempt in the near future to conclude the several pending agreements with different countries from the region, announced in Brussels Benita Ferrero-Waldner Commissioner responsible for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy.

“Relations with Latinamerica have been important during the last five years and will continue to be in the future. In this line we will attempt to conclude regional agreements with countries from Central America and the Andean Community, advance negotiations with Mercosur and consolidate bilateral links”, said Ms Ferrero-Waldner.

These objectives are part of the “EU-Latinamerica: global players in partnership” document jointly presented in Brussels and Latinamerica in preparation for the EU/Latinamerica summit scheduled for May 2010 in Madrid.

The EC also plans to create an investment facility in Latin America, a 100 million Euros financial instrument (from existing funds) that will help mobilise resources from financial institutions (Inter-American Development Bank) for investment projects in infrastructure, energy efficiency, renewable energy, transport and the environment.

The facility will be based on the experience of the facility implemented under the Neighbourhood Policy which, with 71 million Euros, has supported projects worth around 2.7 billion Euros, according to the Commission.

Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner reiterated the objectives that have guided the EU since the launch of the partnership with Latinamerica at the Rio summit, in 1999, in particular the reduction of inequalities, the strengthening of political dialogue and the promotion of regional integration.

Regarding regional integration, Ferrero-Waldner prefers to speak of “delay” rather than failure. Indeed, the association agreements sought by the EU with sub-regional groups have made little headway.

With Mercosur, negotiations have been at a standstill since 2004, because the organisation wants an agreement in the WTO on the Doha round as a preliminary. The talks with Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, with Panama as observer) are more advanced but are being held up by the political crisis in Honduras. Nevertheless Ferrero-Waldner is still hoping for “conclusion in the coming months”.

However the Andean Community, (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia), is divided over the usefulness of an association agreement with the EU. Bolivia and Ecuador have withdrawn and trade negotiations are still under way with Colombia and Peru.

After the last round, from 22 to 25 September in Brussels, Europe’s chief negotiator, Rupert Schlegelmich, said that only “5% to 7%” of the issues still had to be settled, obviously the most controversial.