Catalan president Salvador Illa and Sergio Díaz-Granados, executive chairman of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), have called for a broader relationship between the European Union and Latin America over the next decade. They made the case during the opening session of the World in Progress forum, organised by PRISA in Barcelona.
Both speakers highlighted the importance of the free-trade agreement approved in January between the EU and Mercosur, the bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Díaz-Granados argued that the regulatory framework developed by the EU over the past two decades could help increase investment between the two regions in the coming years.
Illa also presented Spain as a leading force in Europe’s relationship with Latin America. He recalled that Spain’s presidency of the EU helped restore summits between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States after an eight-year interruption.
According to Díaz-Granados, Europe is already Latin America’s largest investor, well ahead of China and the United States. He said the central challenge was to expand the foundations that had been built between the two regions and give the relationship greater scale.
Technology and science were identified as particularly promising areas for cooperation. Díaz-Granados said CAF was pursuing a technology investment plan and pointed to the first fibre-optic connection with Antarctica. He also argued that digital technologies could support Latin American integration, drawing a comparison with the expansion of mobile-phone roaming across Europe.
The CAF chairman linked digital development to the region’s productivity challenges, saying that Latin America had lost 20 points in almost three years. He attributed differences in business performance partly to the larger scale of the US market, rather than to greater ability among American entrepreneurs.
Illa said that the EU and Latin America’s shared support for rules-based trade and international arbitration could provide a foundation for closer cooperation. The discussion also addressed the pressure posed by the United States and China, including the competition for leadership in semiconductors.
Illa criticised the administration of Donald Trump and said Europe needed to respond collectively. Díaz-Granados compared the task of strengthening ties between Europe and Latin America with building the Sagrada Família, stressing that it would require sustained and detailed work over time.
Sources: El País Internacional.