Briefing note For internal EP use only European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), in association with The Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (DLAT) AFET meeting 4 February 2021 Agenda item on the state of play of EU-Latin America relations (focusing in particular on Colombia, Bolivia, Chile and Peru) Table of contents 1 EU relations with Latin America and the Caribbean 2 1.1 The EU-LAC partnership: a renewed engagement 2 1.2 Background: the strategic views of the EU institutions on EU-LAC relations 6 1.3 Achievements and challenges 12 2 Bolivia 15 2.1 Political and economic situation 15 2.2 Relations with the EU 16 3 Chile 17 3.1 Political and economic situation 17 3.2 Relations with the EU 19 4 Colombia 22 4.1 Political and economic situation 22 4.2 Relations with the EU 24 5 Peru 26 5.1 Political and economic situation 26 5.2 Relations with the EU 27 DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION Latin America Unit Author: Jesper TVEVAD EN February 2021 1 EU relations withLatin America and the Caribbean 1.1 TheEU-LAC partnership: a renewed engagement The objective of reinforcing relations between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has moved up the EU's foreign policy agenda in recent months. The most recent expression of this was the European Parliament's (EP) plenary debate on enhancing EU's external action in Latin America and the Caribbean following the latest EU-LAC ministerial conference on 19 January 2021. The Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) Josep Borrell made a plea not to forget the 'other' Transatlantic relationship, between Europe and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, pointing to what he described as the 'dense network of institutional relations' between the two regions and the EU's status as Latin America's third largest trading partner and as the leading source of foreign investment. Further, he highlighted the agreement between the two regions on the need to 'defend multilateralism' and to tackle the COVID-19 health crisis and its economic and social consequences through advancing towards a more sustainable and 'greener' development model, noting the two region's potential as an international 'standard-setter'. The HR/VP highlighted in particular EU-LAC cooperation on environmental issues and climate policies, and on the digital agenda. On the first issue, he noted that Latin America is home to 50% of the world’s biodiversity and stressed the importance of the Amazon for the whole planet. Referring to a new EU initiative to address the 'drivers of deforestation of the Amazon' and the forthcoming COP26, scheduled to take place in November 2021, he stated to need to step up ambitions on climate issues. On the digital agenda, he underlined the need to promote 'digital alliances' to create more opportunities to people through digital technologies, facilitating knowledge and exchanges of information. On a more political note, the HR/VP observed that a strong presence in Latin America and the Caribbean was necessary for the EU if it wanted to be a 'geopolitical power' and if the EU did not reinforce its relations with the region, others would do so. While the HR/VP found that the cooperation between two regions was on the 'right track', he insisted in the need to 'go quicker' and 'speed up' the relationship. In this regard, he made a strong plea to the EP to proceed with the ratification of the modernised 'Global Agreement' with Mexico, the forthcoming modernised agreement with Chile and the Association Agreement with Mercosur. Arguing that it is not possible to 'want to engage', to be 'best partners' and to work together with Latin America and not ratify these agreements, the HR/VP asked the Parliament to 'put on all the pressure' to reinvigorate the relations with Latin America, to 'take seriously' the ratification of the agreements with Mexico and Chile and to 'look for a solution' that will permit ratify the agreement with Mercosur. Finally, the HR/VP expressed his wish for a summit with Latin America and the Caribbean to be held in 2021, stating that it was not reasonable that there had been no summit since 2015. The debate in plenary demonstrated broad political support for a stronger EU-LAC relationship and the revitalisation of the partnership between the two regions. Members stressed the need for enhanced cooperation between them to promote multilateral action to address global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, but also to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as well as to reduce social inequalities. Many speakers emphasised the fundamental strategic importance for the EU of the alliance with Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as of promoting a green and digital transition towards more sustainable societies. Several members shared the HR/VP's insistence on the importance of ratifying the agreements with Mexico, Mercosur and Chile. The start of the recent efforts to build political momentum behind an enhanced EU engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean could be said to be the meeting of Foreign Affairs Council on 12 October 2/28 2020, which held an exchange of views on Latin America and the Caribbean. According to the Council, the discussion highlighted a 'shared sense of urgency on the need to relaunch the inter-regional dialogue', given the economic and geopolitical importance of the region for Europe. Discussing the best way to revitalise inter-regional relations, ministers expressed their readiness to pursue 'ambitious environmental and digital policies' with their LAC partners. Following the Council meeting, the HR/VP has reiterated the goal of strengthening EU-LAC ties on various occasions. One example is the comment published on the HR/VPs blog on 19 October under the title 'Latin America-Europe: the 'other' transatlantic relationship'. In this, Borrell noted that although Europe and Latin America in many respects are the most like-minded people in the world, the interactions between the two regions remained 'well below their potential' and that the attention given to LAC by the EU was not proportionate to the region's importance. As a result of this, and the absence of a summit since 2015, he observed a 'growing sense of neglect' in Latin America, while at the same time other international players, particularly the USA and China, were moving forward. The HR/VP looked forward to the EU- Mercosur Association Agreement as a 'game changer' despite the opposition to its ratification and the 'legitimate concerns' in this respect because of its the geopolitical significance, allowing both regions to cope better with the growing US-China confrontation and avoid 'strategic subordination' and because it should be seen as a 'lever for a change in production and consumption models'. In a similar comment, this time published as a HR/VP video blog on 22 December 2020, Borrell stated that the time had come to 'talk about Latin America and put it more on the radar and on the agenda of the EU'. Characterising the absence of a summit for more than five years as an 'anomaly' in the relations between Europe and Latin America, he remarked that the December 2020 informal ministerial meeting was particularly important as it marked a point of reunion and opened up ways of improving cooperation and political dialogue. Referring to close cultural and historical ties, common values and Latin America's 'enormous growth potential', he said that if Europe wanted to have influence and to be a geopolitical actor, it had to pay much more attention to Latin America and the Caribbean. Again, the HR/VP put sustainable development at the heart of EU-LAC cooperation, stating that agreements such as the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement was the best way to ensure sustainable climate and environmental policies, defend biodiversity and fight against deforestation. In this respect, he underlined the need for political will to give legitimate satisfaction to the concerns of both sides. The HR/VP also reiterated the hope that a bi-regional summit could take place in 2021. The informal EU-LAC ministerial meeting on 14 December 2020 that took place in semi-remote mode in Berlin gave further impetus to the revitalisation of the inter-regional partnership. The meeting was attended by 49 foreign ministers together with, among others, two European Commissioners (Vice President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis and the Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen) the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, representatives of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU- LAC Foundation and the Co-presidents of the EuroLat Parliamentary Assembly. It was the firstsuch meeting in more than two years. The meeting was chaired jointly by the HR/VP and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Heiko Maas, from the rotating presidency of the Council As a first point in the comprehensive joint communiqué from the meeting, ministers affirmed the intention to step up high-level bi-regional political dialogue and agreed to work towards a bi-regional summit. Another prominent point in the statement was the acknowledgement that 'strengthened and effective multilateral cooperation' is a necessity for a 'more equal, more resilient and more sustainable world'. In this regard, they stressed the central role of the UN and the efforts to make the UN 'more efficient and transparent, democratic, accountable and representative'. They also highlighted other initiatives in support of a rules-based multilateral order, such as the Alliance for Multilateralism.