Konferenzband 
China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
Entstehung
Einzelbild herunterladen
 

CurrentandFutureCooperationundertheEUMERCOSURAgreement 23 outorbecomingviolent.TheregionofLatinAmericaandtheCaribbeancan buildonthereinforcedmultilevelprocessofpoliticalconcertation suchasthe new RIOGroup meanwhilecoveringallLatinAmericaandagrowingnumber ofCaribbeancountries or UNASUR.Suchprocesseshavebeenextended beyond the political area into security and health care. This creates psychological socialanddiplomaticgroundsformoreandregularcoordination. Sofar politicaldialogue with MERCOSUR aswithotherintegration schemes hasbeenuseful butbynomeansasmuchasitmighthavebeen:ina biregionalcontext issues concerning single member countries cannot be discussed butthisistrueforbothsides Buck2009a .Tocircumventthis such dialoguemustnotbelimitedtothelevelofministersorhighofficials.The growingcontactsbetweenparliamentariansonbothsides orcivilsocietiesand theirorganisations suchastheEuropeanEconomicandSocialCommitteeand theCommitteeoftheRegionsormeetingsbetweenlocaladministrationsofthe kindwhichtookplacein2007inParis areencouraginginitiatives.Itisalso strikingthatallofthesixpoliticalfoundationsinGermanyhavetakenupthe issuesofsecurityinLatin AmericaandtheCaribbean.Some suchasthe KonradAdenauerStiftung or the FriedrichEbertStiftung already have longstandingexperiencethrough biregionalseminars which bringtogether researchers politicians securityexpertsandactors. Sofar theissueseemstohavebeenoffthepoliticalagenda butsituations likethosein Mexicoand Haitiorthefightagainstdrugshaveledtoconcrete cooperation experienceandexchangeofbestpractices. 5.2 OtherIssuesofa PostliberalAgenda Sanahuja2008 Theissueswhichwouldbenefitfrom morebiregionalcooperationinclude energy infrastructure migration environment healthcare andsocialand regionalasymmetries.Inrecentyears atEULAC biregionalorbilaterallevels cf.thestrategicpartnershipswithBraziland Mexicoandtheirjointaction plans ortheEUChileAssociationforDevelopmentandInnovation ), numerous 狊犲犮狋狅狉犪犾 dialogueshavebeencreatedandshowntheirvalue leadingtobetter understanding technicalassistanceandeventoinitiativesatthe multilateral level Buck2008 .AttheirministerialmeetinginPraguein2009 theEU Troikaand MERCOSURagreedonsuchconcreteinitiativesand workshopsin ordertotakethediscussionsforward EUCouncil2009 Opponentsoffreetradeareas FTAs underlinedtherisktothe weaker partyinasymmetricalrelations.Againstthat one mightreplythat when talkingwithLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean theEUknowsasaconsequence