EU and Latin America act to boost ties

Date: 24/06/1999

By Gareth Harding
HEADS of state from the EU and Latin America will meet for the first time next week to agree a series of measures designed to strengthen links between the two continents.

The meeting, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro the day after the summit between the Union and the region's largest trade bloc Mercosur, will endorse a raft of actions to tackle common problems such as drug dependency, environmental degradation and financial instability.

EU exports to Latin America have doubled in the last decade, hitting €50 billion in 1997. The Union is also the second largest investor in the area and the biggest provider of development aid.

Despite growing economic links, however, political ties between the two blocs have traditionally been weak and the number of trade spats has leaped in recent years.

Commission officials hope that the high-level meeting will "mark the start of a new strategic partnership" with the 35 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

To this end, a declaration aimed at stepping up political, economic and cultural cooperation will be signed at the summit. An action plan committing the two blocs to remove barriers to trade, promote contacts between each other's businesses and step up action to prevent natural disasters is also expected to be agreed by leaders.

But without any additional promises of money, some fear that the Sugar Loaf mountain will provide nothing more than an attractive backdrop for flowery speeches about the importance of EU-Latin American ties.

Brazil's Ambassador to the EU Clodoaldo Hugueney told European Voice the summit must be more than "just an exercise in beautiful words".

"In the end, the success of the meeting will depend on whether we can establish new lines of communication and new policies between the regions," he said.