The European Union's Policy towards Latin America: The Mexican Case

The project of a new Accord on Economic Association and Political Coordination which the European Union (EU) has put forward for Mexico's consideration qualitatively alters the sense of relationships that had traditionally been established with developing Nations and emerging economies. In its first section, this essay analyzes common cooperative policies for development, which are the general backdrop for EU-Mexico relations. The second section focuses on relations between the two parts in the last two decades, with a special emphasis on the institutional framework within which they have developed. Undoubtedly, the 1991 Accord must evolve to reflect recent transformations in the international arena ensuing from the Cold War's demise; it must also contemplate changes that have taken place within the EU and Mexico. Therefore, the third section of this essay analyzes these changes, including the fact that the EU has transformed the nature of its relationship with the Latin American Nations, in terms of both form and content, to include new, complex, and diverse schemes for economic and political complementarity.