Colonial ties and economic cooperation
A history of colonial ties and a faltering domestic economy begat closer economic relations with the former colonies of the original members of the European Community. This distinction made it possible for the former colonies to gain economic benefits similar to being in the European Community (customs union/ trade benefits) without the political sacrifices required of actual members. In over 25 years from Yaoundé to Lomé to Cotonou – the European Union has been expanding its membership to more and more former colonial powers and consequently expanding a customs union to associate more and more of its former colonies (known commonly as the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific or ACP) in order to confer economic benefits on the former colonies, but also to boost the economy of Europe.
the European Union is a repentant civilizing power who has overcome its colonial past
All pre-ceding evidence would suggest that the European Union is a repentant civilizing power who has overcome its colonial past to grant access to the economic benefits of the new European Union that is forming. There is, however, one looming disparity among trade agreements with former colonies. While including former African colonies in trade agreements with the European Union seems somewhat a foregone conclusion due to geographical proximity and a long, recent history of colonialism, what about the former colonies of Spain and Portugal in Latin America?
The historical timeline of independence movements in Latin America plays a key role in distinguishing them from ACP countries. Nearly every country on the South American continent was a Spanish colony: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil. Over the course of the 1820s, all former colonies of Spain and Portugal in Latin America had challenged their colonial masters – and won. The remaining colonies on the South American continent: British Guiana and Dutch Guiana were granted peaceful independence in the mid-1900s, from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands respectively, while French Guiana remains a part of France today. (All three of these countries are considered on the ACP list.)
Inclusion in Yaoundé, Lomé and Cotonou has followed accession of former colonial powerhouses to the EU. Using this rubric, it would seem logical to think that 1986 – the year that Spain and Portugal acceded to the European Community – would have seen a dramatic increase in aid to Latin America and further expansion of trade agreements. In reality, this just was not the case.
Both practical and ideological reasons can explain this uncharacteristic lag in EU development policy.
The post-colonial history of the countries of Latin America – due to their hard fought struggles for independence a century and a half before the first Yaoundé Convention - are in stark contrast to the way in which many ACP countries – specifically those of Great Britain and France in Africa - gained their independence. A long history of independence is an important distinction when considering why the ACP countries differ in their status as associated into the European Union. The former colonies of Latin America were never associated into the European customs union because they have existed on the same sovereign plane as the countries of Europe for nearly 200 years despite their colonial past.
Former Latin American colonies differ in another sense. Spain and Portugal did not enter the European Union on equal footing as the economic powerhouses that constituted the Union in 1986. In fact, the expansion round that included Spain and Portugal has been viewed by some as an expansion of EU development policy to the Mediterranean. Shortly after the EU’s southern expansion, it became increasingly clear that the Soviet Union was very near collapse and something would have to be done to draw the soon-to-be former Communist countries back into the Western fold. EU Structural Funds and overall attention became focused on Central and Eastern Europe. This was bad timing for Latin America since the EU became distracted with its close neighbors, and did not begin truly formalized dialogue with Latin America until 1999 with the Rio Summit which has led to further summits every 2 years (Madrid 2002, Guadalajara 2004, Vienna 2006, Lima in May of 2008, and Spain planned for 2010).
Is closer integration possible?
Having laid out the relevant historical facts, it becomes clear to see why the states of Latin America were never incorporated into customs union with the European Union – from the EU perspective, Latin America was disregarded due to geographic isolation, a penchant for demonstrating independence from its colonial past, and lack of political, economic and cultural conditions which would facilitate a streamlined policy for closer integration.
One must take into account what the European Union is offering – and what it refuses to offer – in terms of what it is willing to trade.
While it is true that the European Union did not focus on Latin America, it is also true that parts of Latin America do not want the European Union’s attention especially in regards to the rhetoric of civilizing that has become associated with expansion of the European Union and the strings attached to aid in the former colonies in Africa. While dialogues exist with Latin America, little is accomplished. One must take into account what the European Union is offering – and what it refuses to offer – in terms of what it is willing to trade. Building association agreements with the former colonies was somewhat easier for France and the UK who, in most cases, offered little more than ultimatums. Latin American former colonies, on the other hand, asserted their independence long before the European Union was ever formed and developed their own industry – namely agriculture. Unfortunately for Latin America, agricultural goods are already being imported to the European Union from the ACP countries and negotiations between EU-Mercosur, EU-Andean Countries, and EU-CAN (Central America) have been stale-mated pretty much from the off-set. Additionally, the fact that the United States is a major trading partner with Latin America and the competition that creates for the EU can not be ignored. The US staked out Latin America as its economic territory with the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 – and this has largely shaped geopolitics in the hemisphere ever since.
Despite little progress in the economic sphere, a concerted EU development policy towards Latin America on the humanitarian level is quite extensive with aid in the billions of euros. The fact that support for Latin America has come, not from the individual Member States, but from the European Commission level is direct evidence of the European Union acting as one body in the international relations sphere. According to the European Commission’s Regional Programming Document for Latin America covering the years 2007-2013, the main goals in Latin America are to decrease poverty in the poorest countries, increase trade as a means to bring prosperity, and train a base of civil society that will be able to instill community values and good governance across the continent. Whether Latin America will welcome this aid, is a different story.
When considering the possibility for success of the European Union’s development policy in Latin America it will be necessary to both take the temperature of Latin America and feel the pulse of Europe.
While it is true that Latin America is one of the poorest continents, accepting aid from the European Union just may not align well with the radical, liberal ideologies that have taken hold in countries like Bolivia and Ecuador. Latin American countries have no interest in coming back into the “European” fold as was the case in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of Communism. Nor are the countries of Latin America interested in being “built back better” as has often underlined the European Union’s objective of retribution in post-colonial Africa. For this reason, it will be necessary for the European Union to tread lightly and tone down its rhetoric of good governance – which by default assumes bad governance existing in the states the EU supplies aid to. The European Union may have a clear idea of what it is exporting when it plans aid strategies but the countries who are set to import these polices may see them through a bit of a different filter.
There are two ways the European Union has to influence Latin America through its development agenda while avoiding radical backlash. First of all, the European Union can, and does, use the guise of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs run parallel to and have in fact encouraged the European Union’s development aid strategy towards Latin America. Second of all, countries of the European Union are given money that can be allocated through the Development Co-operation Instrument (DCI) towards third countries. For instance, Spain, a formerly aid receiving nation, is able to allocate money to NGOs and choose which civil service organizations it wants to give (Brussels derived) euros to. The notion that a former aid receiving country can become a donor nation is a source of national pride and a means for Spain and Portugal to reach out to their former colonies – and for the European Union to gain more influence abroad.
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