The role of the European Commission and the EEAS in the bi-regional dialogue with Latin America – an evolving framework

Abstract

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The European Commission's relationship with Latin America has evolved and switched its nature over the last two decades. These new forms of cooperation have constituted new governance mechanisms through which the European Commission has sought to provide content to its vision of enhanced aid and development effectiveness in the region. Also, the Commission has aimed to coordinate its policy answers with the European External Action Service (EEAS). While this reinforced EU institutional landscape has arguably been seen as a framework bringing together several dimensions of the EU dialogue with Latin American actors, this has not come without inherent challenges. The chapter analyses the tensions and the institutional opportunities that lie ahead in the EU-Latin American dialogue through the role played by the European Commission and the EEAS. It analyses how the European Commission has aimed to provide and develop policy mechanisms for governing the Euro-Latin American dialogue, looking also at how its vision came to be complemented by the EEAS. After analyzing the role of interregionalism, the chapter highlights the need for new governance mechanisms; the last part assesses the impact of such changes in governance mechanisms to investigate how the European Commission is perceived by its Latin American counterparts.