Priorities first: EU´s relations with Latin America under the Spanish Presidency of the EU (Bruno Theodoro Luciano)

Abstract: “This paper addresses the main topics to be explored by the Spanish EU Presidency during the second semester of 2023 regarding relations with Latin America and the likelihood of achieving concrete results in this area in light of the EU’s current internal and external challenges. To be successful in fostering a ‘Qualitative Leap’ to EU-LAC relations, Spanish leadership will need to adjust their inter-regional ambitions, not only to the resistance of certain Member States and EU institutions to progress in specific themes and agreements with LAC countries but also to the EU’s emerging policy priorities, such as the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, and the emerging of rivalry relations with China, which has become a top commercial partner for most of LAC countries. Three topics should be considered high priorities for EU-LAC relations during the Spanish Presidency: the conclusion of association and modernisation agreements with key actors in the region, namely Chile, Mercosur and Mexico; the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela; and the energy crisis and potential EU partnerships with LAC in this area.”

Keywords: EU-LAC relations, EU Foreign Policy; Spanish Presidency of the EU, Trade negotiations, Energy, Venezuelan Crisis.

  Priorities first: EU’s relations with Latin America under the Spanish Presidency of the EU

About the author
Bruno Theodoro Luciano is Marie Skłodowska-Curie Cofund Postdoctoral Fellow at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and an Associate Research Fellow at the United Nations University’s Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), Belgium. This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 101034324. | bruno.theodoro.luciano@ulb.be