Inter-parliamentary European Union–Latin American Caribbean (EU-LAC) relations and the increasing political convergence among Latin American regional parliaments (2006–15)

Nombre de publicación
Parliaments Estates and Representation
Volume, number, page
37: 3,  pp. 318-334
Año de publicación
2017
Autor(es)
LUCIANO Bruno Theodoro
Nombre de organización
International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions
Sigla
ICHRPI
Publisher
ICHRPI
Ciudad
Rome
País de la publicación
Italia
Fecha completa
2017
ISBN or ISSN
1947-248X
Considered Countries
Venezuela
Categoría
Artículos académicos
Tema
Relaciones Bilaterales UE-ALC
Relaciones Biregionales UE-ALC
Acuerdos
Diálogos Birregionales UE-ALC
Parlamentos
Palabra(s) clave
Política exterior
Parlamento Europeo
Latin American parliaments
Parliamentary diplomacy
Parlamentos regionales
Relaciones diplomáticas
Unión Europea
América Latina
EuroLat
PARLATINO
Andean Parliament
Mercosur Parliament
Inter-parliamentary European Union
Foreign policy operation
Diplomatic services
Abstract
Europe and Latin America present a long-standing tradition of parliamentary diplomacy and particularly in the development of regional parliaments. Since the 1970s, inter-parliamentary relations between the two regions have been institutionalized, first by the regular dialogue of the European Parliament with the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) and more recently, in 2006, with the creation of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat). Apart from representatives of Parlatino, EuroLat includes in the European Union-Latin American Caribbean (EU-LAC) parliamentary dialogue members of other regional assemblies created in recent decades, such as the Andean Parliament, the Central American Parliament and the Mercosur Parliament. However, recent EuroLat meetings have made evident a polarization of positions on regional politics between European and Latin American sides, especially regarding the political and human rights situation in Venezuela. In this sense, the present paper analyzes the impact of EU-LAC relations on the political convergence of Latin American parliaments concerning regional political issues. The aim is to discuss how institutionalized relations with the European Parliament, through EuroLat, increased convergence among Latin American parliamentarians. This argument is exemplified by the joint defensive position on the Venezuelan political situation adopted by Latin American parliamentarians vis-à-vis the European Parliament's condemnatory position.