Latin America, EU Express
Unity in Face of Economic Crisis
By Tito Drago
MADRID (IPS) - The leaders of the 60
European Union, Latin American and
Caribbean nations meeting in the capital
of Spain agreed Tuesday that unity
between the two regions is essential to
weathering the global economic crisis.
The summit's host, socialist Prime
Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
said at the opening of the gathering
that the two regions separated by the
Atlantic ocean are "global partners
facing global challenges."
In that task, the "global partners"
should open and not close borders,
Zapatero added, reflecting the position
stated by the delegations of Argentina
and Bolivia, which urged the EU not to
discriminate against immigrants.
The 43-point declaration issued by the
Sixth European Union-Latin
America/Caribbean Summit (EU-LAC) says
the "diversification and complementarity
of the energy" mix is indispensable to
the eradication of poverty and the
achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015
target date.
This can be achieved, it adds, by
developing renewable energy sources,
improving energy efficiency, changing
current consumption and production
patterns, and improving regional energy
interconnectivity.
The declaration also reiterates the two
regions' commitment to fighting climate
change and protecting biodiversity.
"We will exchange experiences on biofuel
technology, norms and regulations, on
hydroelectric and on other energies,"
says point number 13.
One of the concrete measures adopted at
the summit was the creation of the Latin
America Investment Facility (LAIF). For
the 2010-2011 period, 17 projects have
been identified, representing a total
investment of some 3.5 billion euros
(4.3 billion dollars).
The leaders also expressed a commitment
to fighting impunity for crimes against
humanity in all countries of both
regions.
The final declaration says "we reaffirm
our commitment to fight impunity, in
particular for the most serious crimes
under international law, notably those
referred to in the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court (ICC).
Their prosecution should be ensured by
taking measures at the national or
appropriate level and by enhancing
international cooperation."
In addition, they "invite those
countries which are not parties to
consider the possibility to ratify or
accede, as applicable, to the Rome
Statute", which created the ICC.
The heads of state and government and
other representatives paid special
attention to equality between women and
men and condemned gender violence.
They also approved the establishment of
the EU-LAC Foundation, which will serve
as "a useful tool for strengthening our
bi-regional partnership and a means of
triggering debate on common strategies
and actions as well as enhancing its
visibility."
The site of the headquarters of the
Foundation, which will have an initial
budget of three million euros (3.6
million dollars), has yet to be
determined. The candidates are Germany,
France and Italy.
During the summit, representatives of
the EU and South America's Mercosur
trade bloc -- the Southern Common
Market, made up of Argentina, Brazil,
Paraguay and Uruguay -- met and agreed
to resume talks for a free trade
agreement, although France and other
countries expressed opposition to
continuing the negotiations, which have
been stalled since 2004.
Zapatero applauded the decision to
relaunch the talks towards an
"ambitious, balanced association
agreement," which, if achieved, would be
the EU's most important free trade
accord and would create a free trade
zone representing 750 million people
with annual inter-regional commerce
worth nearly 100 billion euros (123
billion dollars).
The declaration also expressed
"satisfaction" with the conclusion of a
multi-party trade agreement between the
EU, Colombia and Peru, and an
association agreement between the EU and
Central America.
The leaders renewed their commitment to
solidarity with earthquake-devastated
Haiti, which Zapatero said was in need
of "recovering dignity and hope."
Leaders absent from the summit included
Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Cuba's Raúl
Castro, Uruguay's José Mujica (on
doctor's orders), Nicaragua's Daniel
Ortega, Porfirio Lobo of Honduras,
Britain's David Cameron, Italy's Silvio
Berlusconi, and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, who left after Monday's opening
dinner.
Some 80 non-governmental organisations,
meeting ahead of the summit, issued a
statement saying "We believe that the
current crisis is an opportunity to
advance more decisively with respect to
alternatives for change that comprise
the complexity and integrity of the
political, social, environmental,
cultural and economic processes on our
continents."
The NGOs also stated that "The
international cooperation role cannot be
reduced to the meeting of urgent needs
and in no case be used as an instrument
at the service of commercial and
political interests," but must be
directed towards promoting development.
They called for the development of a
"new architecture of global governance"
and the reinforcement of the "democratic
and participative nature" of national,
regional and multilateral institutions.
The leaders agreed that the next summit
will be held in Chile, whose new
president, the conservative Sebastián
Piñera, said he was not overly satisfied
with the result of Tuesday's meeting in
Madrid.
Piñera said he hoped that the summit
that his country will host in 2012 will
be "the first with 21st century methods,
speed and rhythm, and that we will
tackle the problems with the same speed
with which they occur."
He said the summit in Madrid had
achieved results, but added that "I
frankly believe they fell short,"
because old problems were tackled "with
old solutions" when what are needed are
innovations. |
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