Latin American regionalism and trade agreements with the European Union: experiences and approaches

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of trade cooperation between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC). The characteristics of interregional trade are presented, and trade interaction between the EU and the subregional blocks of the LAC is analyzed. The author shows that Latin American regionalism predetermines the EU's approaches to trade and economic cooperation with LAC. Despite the fact that Latin American integration format differs from the European model, the EU countries manage to maintain trade and economic relations with subregional associations and particular Latin American countries, despite the growing competition in this region from the United States and China.

Keywords

• european union
• latin america and caribbean countries
• mercosur
• central american common market
• caribbean community
• interregional trade
• economic integration