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China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
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10 China theEUandLatinAmerica:CurrentIssuesandFutureCooperation oftenwith EU support in UN forums.Itscooperationisfocusedonits neighbourhood notably CentralAmericandevelopmentviaitsPlan Puebla Panama.Various LAC countries haveregularly participatedininternational peacekeepingmissions.ChilecontributestotheEUcrisismanagementmission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and offersjointregionalactions within the frameworkoftherecentEUChileAssociationforDevelopmentandInnovation. Withthesecountries thereisanimpressiveconvergenceofpositionsandvisions whichshouldnotbeoverlookedalongsideconflictualtradeissues.BothChileand Mexicohavesomeexperiencewithtrilateralcooperationwithmajordonorssuch asJapan Canada EU memberstates theInterAmericanDevelopmentBank IADB ), theFoodandAgricultureOrganisation FAO andtheUnitedNations DevelopmentProgramme UNDP .Thereisalsogrowingcoordinationbetween thetworiftsofthePacific asinthe AsianPacificEconomicCooperation APEC orthe Arco Pacifico schemes which wererecentlyreinforced. Venezuelahasobtained considerableregionalgratitudeasaresultofits preferentialdeliveriesofoil promotionofgreaterfinancialindependencefor LAC countries from international financial institutions and trilateral humanitarianandsocialmissionstogetherwithCuba.Weshouldprofitfrom thesenumerousexperiencesontheground forexample withregardtopoverty reductionand socialcohesion but wecould alsotake upthe numerous commitmentsinourEULatinAmericanagreements whichoftensuggestthe possibilityoftrilateralcooperation. 3.2 LabourandHumanRights Multilateralismlacarteisonlyasecondbestsolution.Internationalnorms are in manycases preferabletobilateralagreements sincetheyreflecta broaderrangeofinterests.Thisisnotmerelya matterofsoftpowerand bleeding hearts Weareconvincedthat moreeconomicdevelopmentand broaderproductrangesleadtomoreattentionbeingpaidtobroadlyaccepted norms inourownnationalorregionalinterest. ThisiswhytheEUpromotescoreUNorInternationalLabourOrganization ILO conventionsonhumanandlabourrightsandrequeststheirratificationand effectiveimplementationasabasisforitsunilateralschemeofgeneralised preferencesforlessadvancedcountries.Iseeacommoninterestin working towardsconventionsonminimumlabourandsocialstandards.NotonlyPortugal andMexicobutalso morerecently Chinaislosingcompetitivenessandthus jobstootherevenmore lowcost countries.Thisisinthelongterminterestof