The Lima Summit: a meeting of Euro-Latin American asymmetry

The fifth edition of the LAC-EU Summit did not manage to escape the contradictions present at the previous meetings, although this time the Latin American and Caribbean Presidents clearly articulated their desire to receive a European response to the increasing heterogeneity in Latin America within a framework of fundamental asymmetry in the bi-regional relationship. Although no agreement was ratified in this regard, the theme did mark the Lima Summit, which focused on sustainable development and social progress. However, these issues also reflected the asymmetries between the parties, who will have to work on this before the next Summit in Spain in 2010. There, the recommendations of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) will be on the table. These recommendations point to a global inter-regional association to re-launch the Euro-Latin American Summits after a period of some stagnation in terms of operations and proposals.