2 60 China , theEUandLatinAmerica:CurrentIssuesandFutureCooperation regions ; henceitscharacterisationas “ biregional ” .Ontheonehand , itis assumedthatLatinAmericaandtheCaribbeanformasingleregionthatspeaks withonevoice — anassumptionthatcan only beconsidered purepolitical fiction — and , ontheotherhand , thatthereisanEUof27membersthat , even thoughitisthemostadvancedintegrationprocessintheworld , isnotalways capableofspeakingwithonevoiceaboutinternationalissues. Ultimately , EULACsummitsaremeetingsof60representativesofvery differentstates , with diverseagendasandinterests which , although held dutifullyeverytwoyears , producefewconcreteresults , beyondtheobligatory declarationsbasedonthesharedvaluesthesetworegionsaresupposedto uphold.ThetenthanniversaryoftheEULACmechanismwascelebratedduring thelastEUPresidencywiththeformatthatprevailedbeforetheentryintoforce oftheLisbonTreatyinDecember2009 , whichmeantthatitwasinthehandsof Spain , acountryforwhichtieswithLatin AmericaandtheCaribbeanarevery importantandwhichhasservedasthemainpromoterofsuchrelationswithintheEU. Ifthetruthbetold , aftertenyearsofthesocalled “ strategicbiregional association ”, theformathasprovedtobeawkwardandisnowoldandobsolete. Thetwolevelstrategy — valuesandinterests — doesnotseemlikelytoholdfor muchlonger.Itisnotastrategicrelationship , itisnotabiregionalrelationship anditishardlyatrueassociation.Asthingsstand , the “ naturalalliance ” isno longerarealityinthispartnershipanditisalsosafetosaythatEuropesregionalisation strategyinLatinAmericahasfailed , onlyaddingtowhatisperceivedtobeanormative andjudgmentalapproach , basedondoublestandards. Themainissueisstillthesame:EuropewantsLatinAmericatobewhatit cannotbe:asingleregion , aregionwithnoinequality , aregionwithdeveloped democracies , aregionthatrespectstheenvironment , aregionthathaseconomic sustainabilityandsoon.Mostofthesethingsareunattainableforthetime being , or atleastthey will not be achieved via foreign pressure and conditionality.LatinAmericaisdiverse , unequallydeveloped , nevertoopoor , nevertoorich , withmanyconflictsbutofadifferentnaturefromthosewhocall forintervention.Theconversation , then , islopsided.Lastbutnotleast , even thoughtheUSApaidlittleattentiontoitstraditionalbackyardundertheBush administration , itsstrategyofsigningbilateralagreementswithmanycountries intheregionbasicallykilledtheEuropeanregionalisationandgrouptogroup negotiationstrategyforgood.Inthatsense , whenLatinAmericansdemandfrom EuropeansfreetradeagreementsandaccesstotheEuropeansinglemarket , it meansthattherestofthemanybeautifulinstitutions — asortof “ mobile ” that
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