REPORT. on prospects for the European Union and Latin America in the 21 st century. 29 April Rapporteur: Yeda CRUSIUS

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1 XVI CONFERCIA INTERPARLAMTARIA UNIÓN EUROPEA/AMÉRICA LATINA XVI CONFERZA INTERPARLAMTARE UNIONE EUROPEA/AMERICA LATINA XVI CONFERÊNCIA INTERPARLAMTAR UNIÃO EUROPEIA/AMÉRICA LATINA XVI EUROPEAN UNION/LATIN AMERICA INTERPARLIAMTARY CONFERCE XVI CONFÉRCE INTER PARLEMTAIRE UNION EUROPÉNE/AMÉRIQUE LATINE XVI INTERPARLAMTARISCHE KONFERZ EUROPÄISCHE UNION/LATEINAMERIKA BRUSSELS, MAY April 2003 REPORT on prospects for the European Union and Latin America in the 21 st century Rapporteur: Yeda CRUSIUS DELE\LATI\PR\ doc PE

2 Background The beginning of the period following the Second World War may be considered as a milestone in international relations worldwide, not least because of the impact of the creation of the United Nations, with its various specialised bodies, agencies and programmes, and the development of a much more dynamic, extensive and interactive network of international relations. With the continuing advance of science and technology, especially in the field of communications, distances became shorter, the world became smaller but also more complex, and actions of any kind in one place started to have an effect in places and situations increasingly distant geographically. These are, perhaps, some of the characteristics of what we now call the 'new international order' or 'globalisation'. Against this background relations between Latin America and Europe have been strengthened and have developed progressively, under the influence of both the general international environment and processes within the two regions, in particular the enormous efforts made towards regional integration. As regards integration, Europe obviously achieved tangible results of the greatest importance, such as the establishment of the European Union, whilst Latin America is still striving to create a community of its own after achieving significant results at sub-regional level, which inspire optimism about the formation of a regional bloc in the near future, with a legal and institutional basis in the Latin American Community of Nations (CLAN). During the period I am talking about another important milestone was the creation of the Latin American Parliament, whose constituent sitting was held in Lima, Peru in December From that moment inter-regional relations at parliamentary level were strengthened, and led to the first European Union Latin America Interparliamentary Conference being held in Bogota, Colombia in July Since then the assembly has been institutionalised, and is now the oldest inter-regional forum operating continuously. This is the 16 th Conference, and we are united by 29 years of uninterrupted work and increasingly close and cordial relations. During this time hundreds of Members of Parliament have been involved in the Conference and have dealt with dozens of increasingly important topics, on many of which significant joint decisions have been reached. As examples of the importance of the interparliamentary conferences, they have dealt with the following topics: - support for democratic government as the only political system guaranteeing the fundamental rights and freedoms of peoples and consolidating the rule of law; - the fight against poverty, unemployment, social exclusion and inequality and social injustice in general; - respect for human rights as an idea and a practical reality, with all that implies; PR\ doc PE

3 - tackling the problem of abandoned and abused children and all vulnerable social groups; - the situation of women and equality between the sexes; children and young people; indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups; - respect for the rights enshrined in the WTO Convention; - consumer protection and rights; - environmental protection, sustainable development and compliance with the agreements adopted at the Earth Summit and in other fora; - broadening of cultural cooperation; - cooperation for education in general, as well as for training, the acquisition of professional skills and scientific research; - broadening of the economic and political agreements between the European Community and Latin America, and cooperation in various fields, such as energy, science and technology; - recognition that the inflexibility of protectionist customs and non-customs barriers creates serious obstacles for the economic development of developing countries; - the need to promote the concepts of European citizenship and Latin American citizenship; - support for the creation of the Latin American Community of Nations (CLAN) and recognition of the leading role played by the Rio Group and the Latin American Parliament in this process; - reaffirmation of the fundamental role of the State and the need for a balance between the process of globalisation and regional integration policies; - measures to combat drug trafficking and organised crime; the fight against terrorism, - foreign debt and the need for a judgment by the International Court of Justice; and - reform of the Bretton Woods institutions, among other topics, as already mentioned. The existence of this permanent forum, together with other similar ones, such as the institutionalised European Union Rio Group ministerial meetings, as well as a range of events of the most varied kind (summits, the signing of treaties and agreements, etc.), have allowed relations between the two regions to prosper, which has increased mutual understanding, each region s commitment to the other s development, and reinforced forms of concerted action, such as this Conference. PR\ doc 3/8 PE

4 The current situation and future prospects I do not intend, nor would it be particularly appropriate, to analyse in detail the current state of relations between the European Union and Latin America. All I will say specifically is that they may be characterised schematically as follows: - in the political sphere: a broad and welcome agreement on fundamental issues such as the strengthening of democracy, the supremacy of the rule of law in international relations, the need to give priority to integration efforts and, as already mentioned, the existence of appropriate, sound and dynamic areas for working together and adequately swift and easy channels of communication; - in the social and cultural spheres: unprecedented closeness between the two regions, based on mutual respect for cultural factors, in the broadest sense of the term - be they regional, national or local - characterised by increasing exchanges of people, goods and information; increasingly easy conditions for the free movement of those working in the social and cultural spheres; the strengthening of interinstitutional relations between various governmental, private and non-governmental entities; - in the economic sphere: it is in this field and, more specifically, in the commercial sphere that, despite significant progress, there are a number of issues on which real agreement has not been reached. Perhaps the most delicate area concerns the rules governing inter-regional trade - both their theoretical formulation and their practical application. Matters yet to be settled include protectionist practices and, more generally, inconsistent attitudes on both sides in the relevant international fora, such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO). However, even on these controversial points we have recently seen substantial progress. This does not mean that solutions have actually been found, but the appropriate conditions for finding them have been created, with greater involvement of members of parliament. Specific recent examples were the seminar entitled 'Mercosur in the Global Economy what form of integration and what role for the European Union and Italy?', held in Milan, Italy, on 21 March this year, in the context of the Annual Assembly of the Inter-American Development Bank (BID) at which a panel discussed The role of parliaments in promoting open regionalism; and the Parliamentary Conference in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 17 and 18 February this year. I should like to point out that the Latin American Parliament was represented at both events and made a significant contribution, the main points of which I shall mention later on. These events mark a most interesting trend in interregional relations, which we should encourage and develop further a progressive, healthy and necessary rapprochement between executive and legislative power, interacting increasingly closely in international fora, especially those which until recently were the preserve of the executive. This is bound to have positive effects, and should also be reflected in the internal workings of the countries concerned. PE /8 PR\ doc

5 Whilst the important topics tackled by the interparliamentary conferences demonstrate the broad scope and effectiveness of these conferences, they also show how many complex subjects we have to deal with and which affect us, and thus the scale of the challenge facing us, since we can by no means claim that all these issues are progressing well, according to plan and without problems. In practically all the fields mentioned - each of which touches on countless individual topics and situations - there is still much to be done and achieved. The current difficult international situation is evidence of the failure of the efforts made in all spheres and at all levels to achieve real peace, that is to say peace based on social justice, freedom, democracy and, in general, the great ethical values of universal validity which ought to characterise true development for nations. I think it is fair to say that in the history of relations between the European Union and Latin America efforts have been concentrated more on dealing with specific issues although many of them have broad socio-economic and political implications than on the issues seen as a whole, not as a sum or aggregate of component parts, but as an overall vision. I feel that this is one of the great challenges facing us. In this respect and as an indication of what the pattern for biregional agreements and action should be, I shall quote part of the speech made by Ney Lopes, President of the Latin American Parliament, in the debate on The role of parliaments in promoting open regionalism during the seminar 'Mercosur in the global economy what form of integration and what role for the European Union and Italy?' held in Milan, Italy, on 21 March during the BID Annual Assembly: ' in addition to the conventional support measures for Latin America in the financial, scientific and technological fields, and technical and economic cooperation in general, the European Union, in its international policies for the region, should give priority to everything connected with supporting the integration processes in Latin America, as regards both subregional blocs and regionally. Many policies originating in good faith and inspired by the best of intentions may conspire against integrationist efforts, especially those which consolidate bilateralism at the expense of real and potential achievements in the subregional and regional spheres. Hence there is a subject of major importance which should be given priority in the process of analysing the European Union's role in Latin American integration: finding alternatives in order to provide valid responses to multilateral issues, including international trade a highly sensitive subject which should not jeopardise the Latin American integration process, but rather promote it'. We therefore welcome the fact that the European Union has been establishing relations with Latin American sub-regional blocs for some years now. The recent history of institutionalised relations is already marked by several years of effort and progress in this sphere. The first dialogue between Central America and Europe was held in San José, Costa Rica, in 1984 and is known as the 'San José Process'. Later on, in February 1993, the two blocs signed the Framework Agreement for Cooperation. There are other bodies of various kinds and at different levels, including the European Union - Central America Joint Committee which held its XIth meeting in Brussels, Belgium, in October last year. PR\ doc 5/8 PE

6 Relations with MERCOSUR were formally launched by the signing of the Interinstitutional Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and the Southern Cone Common Market in Three years later, in December 1995, representatives of the two blocs signed a 'framework agreement' in Madrid with a view to creating a free trade area by It includes a number of additional acts, such as protocols and other individual agreements. Bilateral relations between the EU and Mexico have also been wide-ranging, and are currently governed by the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed on 8 December 1997 in Brussels and entered into force on 1 October A Political and Cooperation Agreement is being negotiated with the Andean Community of Nations and is designed to cover dialogue at all levels and step up exchanges of views on topics of mutual interest. At the meeting between the Andean Community and the European Union - the XIth Institutionalised Ministerial Meeting between the European Union and the Rio Group held in Athens, Greece, on 27 March this year, the ministers declared in a joint communiqué 'the signing of such an agreement should mean a qualitative advance in the depth and range of CAN- EU relations, exploring new areas of interest for both parties, such as trade-related technical assistance. Ministers decided to explore ways and means of implementing such cooperation and to examine progress achieved in this area during the next meeting of the Joint Committee'. It is therefore essential in these relations for which we Latin Americans are also responsible that agreements should not be made with one subregional bloc which are incompatible with its obligations vis-à-vis another bloc. In other words, the agreements reached, especially in the commercial sphere between, for example, MERCOSUR and the European Union, must not affect the arrangements already in force between MERCOSUR and the Andean Community of Nations. These include matters such as timetables for customs tariff reductions, preferential agreements, etc. A characteristic of the type of meeting we are holding today is that when a specific issue has been dealt with frequently enough, it can generate a feeling of staleness or saturation. This is a serious problem in many cases, since the desire to renew the agenda may lead to subjects which have lost immediacy or importance being sidelined, not because they have been dealt with regularly. In a number of fora this has happened to the issue of foreign debt, in circumstances which have meant that it has maintained, and in many ways increased, its harmful effect on the development of countries. I feel I should remind my distinguished audience of the Latin American Parliament s approach. For this purpose I shall use the same source, the document The integration of Latin America in a multi-centred world (PARLATINO, 1999) by the then President of the Consultative Council of the Latin American Parliament, the eminent Brazilian Don André Franco Montoro. The Latin American Parliament, whilst respecting the strategies adopted by each country regarding ongoing processes (exchange, renegotiation and others) and in accordance with the principle that it is essential to honour commitments, has focused its concern on the future processes of foreign debt, since if there continue to be no clear rules guiding these processes, the problem will remain unsolved and continue to cause serious damage to the indebted countries. PE /8 PR\ doc

7 The approach the Latin American Parliament has pursued for years is based on the need to obtain an opinion a judgment or advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on the legal considerations which ought to guide and regulate foreign debt, on the basis of the general principles of law recognised by civilised nations, as well as international standards inherent in agreements and accepted practice. In this initiative one of the great and tireless supporters of which was André Franco Montoro himself the Latin American Parliament was backed by various organisations in Latin America and Europe, many of them multinational ones, and in its technical work was supported permanently by important legal experts of international renown A major advance was the approval by the Italian Chamber of Deputies (by a broad majority) and Senate (unanimously) and the promulgation, by President of the Republic, of Law No. 209 of 25 July 2000 on measures to reduce the foreign debt of the heavily indebted countries with the lowest income (Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, 28 July 2000). Article 7 of this law (International rules governing foreign debt) states the government, in the context of the competent international institutions, shall propose the introduction of the procedures needed to request the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the compatibility of the international rules governing the foreign debt of developing countries and the framework of general principles of law, human rights and the rights of peoples In actual fact the Conference has tackled the subject on various occasions. Most recently there have been references to: the need to obtain the opinion of the International Court of Justice (11 th Conference, São Paolo, Brazil, 3-7 May 1993 and the 12 th Conference, Brussels, Belgium, June 1995); the willingness to cancel part of the foreign debt in negotiations with each Latin American country, subject to its ability to pay (12 th Conference); the application of innovative formulae to reduce the debt burden (13 th Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, May 1997). Perhaps what is now needed - since the Italian decision represents an enormous step forward - is not only a declaration or resolution supporting the initiative, but a tangible commitment by the regional and national governments represented here, to emulating this action and encouraging the introduction, once and for all, of the measures needed to ensure that the almost inevitable future debts have a legal and ethical basis guaranteeing fairness for both sides and the supremacy of justice. In conclusion Apart from the implications of foreign debt, I have deliberately avoided any reference to specific issues, in order to establish a minimum of consistency with the central proposal of this speech, in the sense that we should, as a matter of urgency, tackle the development problems of the two regions in a global perspective and with a view to change. The present harsh reality and the Original: Il Governo, nell ambito delle istituzioni internazional, competenti, propone l avvio delle procedure necessarie per la richiesta di parere alla Corte Internazionale di Giustizia sulla coerenza tra le regole internazionali che disciplinano il debito estero dei Paesi in via di sviluppo e il quadro dei principi generali del diritto e dei diritti dell uomo e dei popoli. PR\ doc 7/8 PE

8 enormous crisis affecting the whole world at this time are a harsh reminder that palliative measures or stop-gap policies do not bring the necessary and profound changes required for both the development of society in individual countries or the international order in general. At the risk of repeating myself, I would like to say, in conclusion, that the future of interregional relations between the European Union and Latin America will have to go along the road of promoting profound structural changes, replacing the current development models worldwide and the attitudes underlying them. Otherwise, in spite of all our efforts, sooner or later we will be deploring a new dramatic crisis or witnessing a further step backwards along the path which humanity must pursue towards real civilisation. Thank you very much. PE /8 PR\ doc