News Release
No 87/04
May 25, 2004
THIRD EU-LATIN AMERICA
& CARIBBEAN SUMMIT:
"MOVING THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP FORWARD"
The 25
Heads of State and Government of the European Union and the 33 of
Latin America and the
Caribbean (LAC) will hold their
3rd Summit in Guadalajara (Mexico) on May 28, 2004. EU Commission President
Romano Prodi,
accompanied by four Commissioners --
External Relations Commissioner
Chris Patten, Trade
Commissioner
Pascal Lamy,
Agriculture and
Fisheries Commissioner
Franz Fischler and Commissioner
Joe Borg -- will attend the Summit.
This will be the first
Summit of the enlarged EU. It aims
to make substantial progress on two priority areas, namely social cohesion and
regional integration, as well as increase EU-Latin America "bi-regional"
cooperation in multilateral fora. The Summit will be preceded May 27 by a meeting
of EU Foreign Ministers and their LAC counterparts, as well as by an
EU-Mercosur Trade Ministerial Meeting aimed at advancing the negotiation of
an Association Agreement.
The Commission’s
priorities for the Summit -- social cohesion, regional integration and effective
multilateralism -- are intrinsically linked. Addressing the high level of
social exclusion throughout the LAC region would contribute greatly to the consolidation
of democratic institutions and to sustainable economic development. The Commission
is committed to fight social exclusion and poverty in the region and has launched
a "social cohesion initiative" aiming at putting social cohesion issues
at the core of our relations, encouraging Latin American governments to face this
challenge by improving social policies and reforming their fiscal systems.
Further steps
towards regional and sub-regional integration will accelerate economic growth,
as well as facilitate further progress in the strategic bi-regional
EU-LAC partnership. In economic terms, greater regional integration will help
the region to fulfil its potential and facilitate the insertion of the individual
countries into the international markets. Politically, it will allow Latin America
to become a more influential player on the global scene.
An effective
multilateral system, with the UN at its centre to which the EU and Latin America
are committed, is essential in confronting the formidable challenges facing the
world: poverty; hunger; abuses of human rights; terrorism; weapons of mass destruction;
illegal trafficking; HIV/ AIDS; and environmental degradation.
Background
The
first Summit between the Heads of State and Government of Latin America, the
Caribbean and the European Union was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1999. The Summit
was convened to enhance bi-regional relations in order to strengthen political,
economic and cultural understanding between the two regions and develop a strategic
partnership. The three strategic dimensions of this partnership are: a fruitful
political dialogue respectful of international law and based on the strong
attachment of both regions to multilateralism; solid economic and financial
relations based on a comprehensive and balanced liberalization of trade and
capital flows; and more cooperation in the educational, scientific, technological,
cultural, human and social fields.
The
second EU-Latin America Summit took place in Madrid in 2002. It consolidated
the process begun in Rio de Janeiro and confirmed both regions’ commitment to
the development of the bi-regional strategic partnership. Substantial progress
has been made towards fulfilling the Madrid commitments, including the signature
of the
EU-Chile Association agreement in November 2002 and the conclusions of negotiations
of Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreements with
Central America [see also
this] and the
Andean Community [see also
this], signed in Rome in December 2003.
The European Union is
Latin America’s second biggest trading partner.
The European Union has gradually strengthened its
economic and trade links with Latin America, resulting in trade figures that
more than doubled between 1990 and 2002. European Union imports from Latin America
increased from €26.7 to €53.7 billion, and exports to the region rose from €17.1
to €57.5 billion1. This positive trend is bound to be
reinforced with the enlargement of the European Union.
The EU is also the most
important source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for Latin America.
Flows of European FDI to Latin America peaked in 2000 and have since diminished.
However, the total stock of European investment in Latin America grew from €176.5
billion in 2000 to €206.1 billion in 20022.
The EU is the leading
donor of development assistance for Latin America.
In addition to the contributions from the Member States, since 1996 the European
Community budget for Latin America has totaled more than €500 million3 per year. Furthermore, between 2000
and 2003 the European Investment Bank invested €1,104 million in the form of loans
for projects of mutual interest to the countries of the European Union and Latin
America.
History of EU’s External Assistance to Latin America
Building on
long-existing bilateral relations between European countries and Latin America,
the European Union has established and built up links with Latin America since
the 1960s. The relationship between the two continents has substantially evolved
over the past three decades. Today’s partnership reflects the increasing importance
and growing potential of the Latin American region, and the will of both parties
to further strengthen the relationship in the future. The EU is an important economic
and political partner for Latin America, it is the leading donor in the region,
first foreign investor, and second most important trade partner.
The EU’s relations with Latin
American countries have developed at the bi-regional level (European Union-Latin
America), and a number of specialized dialogues within this broader relationship
are ongoing with specific sub-regions (the Mercosur, Andean Community and Central
America), and between the EU and specific nations (Mexico and Chile). A full range
of co-operation agreements have been concluded at each of the levels, based on
the three pillars of economic co-operation, institutionalized political dialogue
and the strengthening of trade relations.
The sustained reshaping of
EU cooperation with Latin American countries in recent years has been characterized
by three fundamental priorities:
· The fight against poverty and social inequalities;
· Integration into the world economy through strengthening of trade-related
technical assistance (TRTA) actions;
· The consolidation of the rule of law.
These three
priorities for the whole Latin American region were the subject of large and regular
discussions within the two pertinent forums at ministerial level, the Central
American San José dialogue and the Rio Group for the remainder of Latin American
countries. The overwhelming majority of Community aid has been concentrated increasingly
under these three priorities (respectively 40%, 25% and 15%).
During
the last three years, EU co-operation with Latin America has shown a constant
increase: from €286 million in 2001 to €329 million in 2003 in commitments, representing
a yearly increase of 15%, and from €139 million in 2001 to €280 million in 2003
in payments, an increase of more than 100%, as well as a significant acceleration
of its implementation.
This holds true
for commitments (in 2003, more than 50% of the financing agreements were signed
within fifteen days from the Commission Decision’s date by the Commission and
the Beneficiary, which in the past could take several months) as well as for implementation,
since the amounts earmarked for 2003 were executed at 100%.
As regards RAL
(reste ŕ liquider), the results illustrate appropriately the progress achieved:
the disbursement ratio (end of the year RAL /payments of the year) went from eight
years in 2001 down to 4.5 years in 2003.
The results
obtained in 2003 are expected to continue in 2004 when foreseen payments amount
to around €380-400 million, which would represent €100 million more than the appropriations
available.
1 These
figures include the Andean Community, the Caribbean region, Central America, Chile,
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mercosur and Mexico.
2 These
figures include the Andean Community, the Caribbean region, Central America, Chile,
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mercosur and Mexico.
3 These figures include the Andean Community,
the Caribbean region, Central America, Chile, Cuba, Mercosur and Mexico.
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Press Contacts:
|
Anthony Gooch
202-862-9523
|
Maeve O'Beirne
202-862-9549
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