ABSTRACT

The EU lacks a strong universal identifier, comparable with the post-colonial identity of Latin America. Whereas for Latin America its colonial history helped the construction of such an identity, the European complex history only complicated the collective identification. Moreover, for an external perception, the EU frequently appears as an artificial/bureaucratic organization, not a political model to be emulated. Then, how should one properly analyse the EU’s identity as seen by the others? The method adopted in this chapter is built upon the following observation: because Latin American identity can be constructed around its post-colonial experience, then maybe its post-colonial perspective should be regarded as important for understanding not only its positioning in international relations, but also its perception of the EU’s identity. The chapter is divided into three parts: the first offers the sketch of the historical evolution of Latin American international relations and specificity; the second part presents the Latin America–EU relations in different discourses and from different perspectives; and the third part proposes an analysis of some critical views on the EU and its identity as shaped by Latin American political experiences and scholar contributions. The chapter concludes with an opinion that the normative power construction may debilitate the EU’s identity and that a unified Europe collective identity should probably be constructed on different principles, other than that of exporting its values and model.