Latin America-European Union relations in the twenty-first century

A unique and worthwhile examination of EU relations with South America in the first decades of the twenty-first century, focusing in particular on the evolution of negotiations for new generation preferential trade agreements.

After two long decades of negotiations, the EU and Mercosur countries finalised an Association Agreement, the first agreement between regional trading blocs, in 2019. If the agreement is ratified, the Southern Cone countries will join the Andean states, Mexico and Chile in subscribing trade agreements securing their economic relations with the European Union.

This collection by renowned experts on EU-Latin American relations explains the challenges surrounding modern trade agreement negotiations between the EU and South American states. It shows how international pressures and geo-economic balancing against the United States and neighbours, as well as other aspects of the broader EU-Latin American relations, have played a key role in shaping the timing and outcomes of negotiations, and in aiding negotiators to overcome divergent viewpoints, at a time when trade policies are becoming increasingly politicised and contested.