EU-LAC Inter-regionalism during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown a variety of responses from countries of the two regions, ranging from denialism to regional health cooperation. This article aims to assess how these reactions have impacted European Union (EU) and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) inter-regional relations, considering multiple and sometimes incompatible approaches taken by national and regional actors. The article contends that the existence of contrasting approaches – coupled with previous institutional and political challenges faced by the EU and LAC regional organisations – have undermined the convergence of national health policies into regional ones, and the promotion of multilateral responses and institutions in a post-pandemic world. First, focus is given to the main characteristics and institutional features of contemporary EU-LAC relations, usually conceived as a multidimensional and multi-tier relationship. Second, it introduces how EU and LAC countries and regional organisations have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating distinct ways that EU-LAC actors have engaged with the outbreak and the main challenges and successes for regional cooperation in this respect. Lastly, the main developments and challenges for EU-LAC overall relations in pandemic times are indicated, highlighting how EU-LAC actors have attempted to cooperate in order to develop a more positive and sustainable inter-regional partnership for the future.

Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine distribution – the case of the Andean Community

“…Admittedly, the structure of the Andean Community's health governance does not enjoy direct implementation effect, so efforts to fight COVID-19 in the region required close cooperation between the countries concerned. A series of activities took place during the pandemic to address its progress, to share statistics, and to design measures for each Andean Community country to fight the spread of the virus (Mariano, Bressan, and Ferreira 2022). Of all these efforts, one key achievement is the proposal to harmonise the Community Directive 'Andean Strategy on Medical Devices' of the Andean Parliament (Noticias ORAS-CONHU, 2022).…”