Europe’s lost opportunities in Latin America? [Promoted content]

Right now, all eyes are on Europe: the ongoing war in Ukraine and the resulting global political and economic difficulties dominate the geopolitical realm. Unsurprisingly, the European Union’s (EU) current focus lies on the war next door.  While the resulting economic crisis has led to a renewed emphasis on resilience, in which new solutions are being sought to match the present global situation.

Svenja Blanke is the Editor of the Journal Nueva Sociedad, Monica Hirst is the Visiting Professor at the Institute of Social and Political Studies of the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Ronja Schiffer is the Project Assistant at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Argentina.

In this context, a historical, democratic and traditional relationship with a key continent is often overlooked: the EU’s ties with Latin America.   Not only the obvious parallels between countries with similar democratic systems, but also the prolonged and difficult negotiations over the MERCOSUR Agreement, the goal of which is to ease trade between the countries of the southern cone and the EU, have laid bare the EU´s neglect of the continent and the resulting missed opportunities.

But against all odds, Latin America´s desire to reconnect with the EU and focus on opportunities for cooperation is being given renewed emphasis. Primarily in order to remedy urgent food and energy shortages – a direct consequence of the ongoing war.

Latin America’s population has a strong desire to strengthen its cooperation with Europe, especially in regard to ‘soft power’ issues such as human rights, climate change, and the fight against poverty. A representative survey in Latin America measuring the population’s global outlook and opinion of the European Union, carried out by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Latinbarometro and the Latin American journal Nueva Sociedad (More information about the survey appears at the end of the article) reflects this desire quite clearly.

In this current period characterised by an institutional vacuum, when Latin America lost much of its relevance on the global geopolitical chessboard, it is necessary to search for reasons and explanations that go beyond the realm of conventional politics. It is not sufficient to only examine traditional actors and the national and regional spaces that shape the interests and behaviour of governments and other players, organizations, and trends.

It is necessary to listen to the societies themselves and understand how they view and interpret the issues on the international agenda.  The pandemic offered a unique opportunity to evaluate exactly this: the region’s capacity to react, the Latin American perception of   the turbulent international situation,the type of action, leadership and example being set by the central actors of the global system and in particular the EU.

The present EU-Latin America interregional relationship is influenced by how global and EU leadership is interpreted in Latin America, which areas of cooperation are valued and desired and how they are connected to global and regional uncertainties and problems.

The Question of Global Leadership

In Latin America, the European Union is associated with leadership in specific soft power areas – environmental protection, the defence of human rights, the promotion of world peace and the fight against poverty and inequality.

In fact, there is a clear desire for further cooperation in these areas. Interestingly, however, when it comes to security, technological development, and economic power, the EU is not perceived as a leading actor; the US and China have clear superiority in this segment. These contrasting perceptions regarding leadership are reflected by sectoral partnerships.

In Latin America, relations with the United States and China are seen as very significant in terms of trade and investment, while the EU is not seen as a leader or even as a strong partner in this regard.

Despite the limiting soft power perception of the EU, it is precisely this soft power sphere and the issues associated with it which are most pressing on the international stage. Problems such as extreme poverty, human rights violations, and climate change, are – in addition to concerns about the pandemic – the main worries for the region.

The Covid 19-pandemic and its aftermath starkly exposed deficits in global governance and led to high levels of uncertainty in the face of severe humanitarian, economic, environmental, and political crises that disrupted every sphere of life. In the case of Latin America, internal and external vulnerabilities were found to be severe, and were exacerbated by failures to respond collectively.

The search for new responses

This article was written in response to a survey entitled “European Union – Latin America: Perspectives, Agendas and Expectations”. The study was processed by Latinobarómetro in the second half of 2021 and polled a representative sample from ten Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The survey design sought to fill in the gaps in information about local attitudes to global issues. The questions posed focused on issues relevant to the region as a whole and to its decision-makers, as well on international issues, particularly the role of the European Union.  To find out more, visit the website data.nuso.org which contains more content and illuminating presentations and analysis.

The survey was overseen by an academic advisory board that examined and analysed the results. Its members are also the authors of this article. It is part of a long-term research programme run by the Dialogo y Paz team at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s journal Nueva Sociedad: a space for international and geopolitical analysis and debate committed to finding peaceful, constructive, and collective solutions to the critical challenges faced by Latin America.

Source: euractiv.com