Debate: Enhancing EU's external action in Latin America and the Caribbean following the latest EU-LAC ministerial conference
Date: TUESDAY, 19 JANUARY 2021
Speaker: Josep Borrell Fontelles
Language: EN

Dear Members, as we wait for the incoming President, Joe Biden (President of the United States, evidently), there is a strong interest about the new Transatlantic relationship with Washington. However, on the other side of the Atlantic there is not only the US; sometimes when you talk about Transatlantic relations it looks like on the other side there is only the United States. There are other Transatlantic relations. We must not forget these other Transatlantic relations – the one that unites Europe with Latin American and Caribbean countries. We, in many respects, are the closest people in the world. We share a history, dramatic history but our history, languages and cultural values. We have a dense network of institutional ties with the region. We have political and trade cooperation agreements with 27 out of the 33 countries in this region. It’s one of the most dense networks of institutional relations that we have with any other region in the world. We are the third largest trading partner, the third – we were the second, now the second is China, every day more present in Latin America, and China has recently moved ahead of us. But we are still the leading investor in Latin America, with a direct investment stock worth almost EUR 800 billion at the end of 2018. And I want to tell you something that people are surprised at, because it’s not very well known. The investment of the European Union economy’s firms in Latin America is bigger that what we have been investing in China, in India, in Japan and Russia all together. All together, not one by one. More than in China, plus India, plus Japan, plus Russia – surprising, but it’s real. Our investment focuses on a strategic sector – telecommunications and energy – and these are priority areas for our Green Deal and the digital transformation. So, as demonstrated during the Ministerial Conference in Berlin, our regions fully agree on the need to defend multilateralism and will join forces to advance towards a greener, more sustainable development model. Together we represent almost one third of the votes in the United Nations. It’s a big political potential. Our aggregated influence, as a standard-setter, will become even stronger. Together we can better tackle the existing health crisis and its socio-economic consequences. Latin American and Caribbean countries have been very active, particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic. Unhappily they have been heavily hit. With 8% of the world population, the region represents one third of global deaths and now is facing the biggest economic recession in its history. The pandemic is exacerbating structural gaps, inequalities and social exclusion. The increase in social unrest does not help, particularly where governments are making a strong effort to tackle the structural violence. These are, I think, good and enough reasons why we must show real solidarity and engagement with Latin America. We are already doing something – more than something; not enough, but quite a lot. We are already the region’s leading development cooperation partner and the leading provider of humanitarian assistance. We have mobilised EUR 2.4 billion in emergency aid to help Latin America to fight against the pandemic. It looks a lot, but it’s a drop of water in the ocean of the need they have. This is, however, not enough, given the scale of the problem. Dear Members of the European Parliament, working together with our Transatlantic partners on environmental issues is especially important, given that Latin America is home to 50% of the world’s biodiversity – and don’t forget the Amazon rainforest is the major lung for our planet. As part of the green partnership with the region, we are preparing a key European initiative that can address the drivers of deforestation of the Amazon. That will be aligned with the 2019 Leticia Pact. We also look ahead to the COP26 in 2021. We all need to step up our ambitions on climate issues, as we agreed also in Berlin. There we also agreed on the need to promote digital alliances to make the most of the opportunities offered by people focused on digital technologies. You know that we are going to have a new underwater optic cable stretching across the Atlantic. It’s called Bella. It’s a digital highway for knowledge and exchange of information between our countries: a powerful example of the benefits of working together. In a nutshell, the Berlin Ministerial Conference has confirmed that we are on the right track, but we have to go quicker – we have to speed up our relationship. The track is good, but we are too slow. We have important work in front of us. This year we need to move forward with the signature and ratification of our modernisation agreement with Mexico and Chile, as well as an EU agreement with Mercosur, which has been in negotiation for 20 years. I know these are sensitive issues, but we cannot say that we want to engage and to be best partners and to work together with Latin America and not ratify in the way that you consider appropriate, because this Parliament has to ratify this agreement, these long deal agreements with Mercosur and the modernisation of the agreements with Mexico and Chile, who have a long story behind them. They were the first and the best agreements that we signed with a third country. They have provided extraordinarily good results and they have to be modernised. Mexico is this year the chair of the Latin American Countries Association. This is a good year to sign this agreement. This is a good year to have a high-level meeting with Latin America. In the last five years we haven’t celebrated any summit with Latin American countries. Here in Brussels we have a summit almost every day with someone. In the last five years, we haven’t had any one with Latin America. Do you think it is a sensible thing? No, it’s not. So I would like the Parliament to put on all the pressure in order to reinvigorate our relations with Latin America and to take seriously the ratification of the agreements with Mexico and Chile and to look for a solution for the Mercosur. I know that this Parliament has already said that under the current circumstances and the way it is, it will not be ratified by the honourable Members. Let’s look for a solution. Let’s look for a complementary statement, declaration, whatever you can imagine, but don’t throw through the window 20 years of effort and work, go back to the initial point and tell the Latin American countries that in this difficult moment of their history we are not going to agree with them in order to increase our economic and trade and investment relationship. I really urge you to take this very much into consideration. These ambitious treaties include political, cooperation, trade, and sustainable development aspects which will reinforce our ties and our shared defence of an international rules-based order, and from any point of view we will be better off with these Association Agreements than without them. You can rest assured that the position of this Parliament is well noted, and please help me, help us, help the Commission, help the Council, on working to set the right conditions for the entry into force of these agreements.