Enhancing the Brazil–EU Strategic Partnership – From the Bilateral and Regional to the Global edited by M. Emerson and R. Flores Brussels, Belgium: Center for European Policy Studies, 2013

Abstract

the current status of international cooperation on global economic issues, such an initiative may have to wait for a while. However, were such a process to start, participants would certainly benefit from the analyses, insights, and suggestions put forward by Karl P. Sauvant and Federico Ortino in their excellent and thoughtful essay.

EU–Brazil Relations as a Developing Field of Study: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives on Future Research

“…Academic interest in the issues and problems underlying this interregional dynamic was stimulated by the signing of the EU-Mercosur Framework Cooperation Agreement in 1995. Such interest in what has been considered a landmark in the formal relations between the two regions (Saraiva, 2006;Onuki, 2011;Flôres, 2013) has resulted in an examination of its major drivers, significance and consequences. The literature places emphasis on the nexus between the EC's Iberian enlargement in 1986 and the improvement of the relations between Europe and Latin America in general and getting Brazil onto the European agenda in particular (Vasconcelos, 2007;Ferreira-Pereira, 2010;Roy, 2012).…”

“…Nevertheless, such failure does not obscure the fact that, since the mid-1990s, Mercosur has become one of the most important interlocutors in the EU's relations with South American countries, and a major ally in the promotion of both regional integration and interregionalism (Ceia, 2008;Flôres, 2013;Valladão, 2013). Not surprisingly, Mercosur also became one of the main targets of the EU's efforts to diffuse its normative agenda and export through interregional cooperation its model of regional integration (Saraiva, 2006;Ferreira-Pereira, 2010;Malamud, 2011;Lazarou and Fonseca, 2013).…”

“…The discussion on this politico-diplomatic milestone, which has signalled a European shift from an exclusively interregional approach to a bilateral formula designed to be explored hand-in-hand with the original interregional dynamics, has attracted academic interest. A number of scholars began paying closer attention to the renewed interest of the EU vis-à-vis Brazil (Saraiva, 2006;Valladão, 2008;Ferreira-Pereira, 2010;Silva, 2011;Sousa, 2011;Gratius and Saraiva, 2013;Vaz, 2013). The formal establishment of a SP to govern the rapport between the two actors would eventually introduce the development of a new issue for European foreign policy studies.…”

“…Besides the promotion of human rights, the reinforcement of the powers of the International Criminal Court (ICC) -in order to secure better trials for human rights' violators -and the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) feature as SP's common goals. According to some authors, the EU-Brazil SP therefore evinces the significant role played by the existence of common values in international politics (Ceia, 2008;Valladão, 2008;Onuki, 2011;Gratius and Saraiva, 2013;Grevi, 2013). Despite the prevalence of diverging views on various matters, this common normative dimension is seen as an element favouring closer relations and deeper mutual understanding between the two actors (Valladão, 2008;Grevi, 2013).…”

“…Generally speaking, tensions between the Mercosur members were expected (Ceia, 2008;Lessa, 2010;Malamud, 2011). More concretely, academics consider fundamental questions regarding the change in the status quo because regional integration in South America has been traditionally structured around the Brazilian recognition of Argentina's relevance and the mitigation of Argentinean fears of having to coexist with a much-too-strong Brazil in the region (Ferreira-Pereira, 2010;Saraiva, 2010;Gratius and Saraiva, 2013;Valladão, 2013). By recognizing Brazil's global actorness and the uniqueness of this country vis-à-vis other South American partners, notably Argentina, the EU generated a certain malaise between Brasília and Buenos Aires.…”