The European Union and Latin America in the Interregnum: Limits and Challenges of a Needed Partnership

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the interregional relations of the European Union with Latin America and the Caribbean and the need for a renewed relationship. This relationship must face what Antonio Gramsci called “morbid symptoms”, that is, as expressions of a stage of organic crisis and interregnum in the international political economy. It is argued that this relationship and its renewed rationality must respond to an agenda of common societal challenges that must have a normative dimension. Specifically, it must respond to the diversification of external relations to ensure greater strategic autonomy on both sides, and to a development agenda driven by a triple socioeconomic, digital, and green transition that contributes to the renewal of the social contract in both regions. This paper also examines the opportunities and risks presented by the EU-Mercosur agreement for this objective, and the difficulties and risks posed by its eventual signature and ratification. Finally, we present some reflections on the future of the political dialogue between the two regions, highlighting the framework of challenges and opportunities that this represents.