ABSTRACT
Europe, and now the European Union (EU), is perhaps Latin America’s most traditional partner. Colonization as well as later European ideas and events shaped historical, political, economic and societal developments in Latin America. However, the relationship has been in a state of flux. Following the decline of the European powers in the wake of the Second World War and with the onset of the Cold War, Latin America remained sidelined in the European agenda. This changed in the late 1980s following the accession of Spain and Portugal to the EU. The golden age of EU-Latin America relations, propelled by Europe’s self-perception as a global actor, lasted until the 2008 financial crisis. Since then a reconfiguration of EU-Latin America relations has taken place. Most recently, a number of changes on the European side have combined to provide new opportunities to relaunch the relationship. In particular, the 2019 EU Commission Joint Communication on Latin America stressed the strategic value of the region for Brussels. More importantly, Germany, arguably the most influential member of the EU, has launched a new foreign policy towards Latin America that is meant to upgrade the continent in Berlin’s foreign agenda.
