The EU and Latin America

"During the 1990s, the EU put a lot of time and effort into its relationships with the countries of Latin America, and South America in particular," Alfredo Valladao, a professor of international politics, explains in an interview with Jean-Hébert Armengaud. "The EU saw 'a similar animal to itself' in these regions' integration processes: Mercosur (Southern Common Market), for example, or ACN (Andian Community of Nations) had set for themselves as objectives a deep integration and not simply free-trade zones. ... In 1999, the EU and Mercosur launched negotiations in earnest. Except there was an underlying contradiction in the European position: it said it regarded Mercosur as a strategic partner in the world, but when the time came to negotiate it refused to yield on Mercosur's principle demand - the opening of European agricultural markets. ... The association agreement was supposed to have been signed in October 2004, but the deadline was not respected."

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe, » Latin Amerika