EU and Latin America. A Stronger Partnership?

2019 will be the year of the twentieth anniversary of the EU-LAC bi-regional Strategic Partnership. But will it also be the year of the desired turning point for EU-LAC relations? Will Europe be able to re-launch political and economic dialogue with LAC countries, especially taking into account that its engagement combines different levels of relations: regional, through the EU-LAC Strategic Partnership, sub-regional, with different regional organizations such as Mercosur or the Pacific Alliance, and bilateral, with individual countries? And finally, will Europe and Latin American countries be able to navigate through today’s choppy international waters, with rising tides of populism and protectionism mounting on both shores of the Atlantic? These issues are at the core of this ISPI report. EU-LAC relations are a litmus test for Brussels to show that it still has the potential to scale up its influence in the region, notwithstanding the current divisions and lack of vision of the EU itself. Building upon a less ambitious but more pragmatic agenda, Europe may indeed re-launch a win-win partnership.