Regional integration processes and the social dimension of globalization : the European experience: some reflections about its implementation in Latin-America

Abstract

The European Union is firmly committed to projecting its social agenda externally. In this vein, the need to improve social cohesion in developing countries has been repeatedly emphasized by the European Union at the multilateral as well as at the bilateral level. At the multilateral level the intention on the part of the European Union to link the Lisbon Strategy to the Copenhagen process, implemented under the auspice of the United Nations, might be underscored. At the bilateral level the relevance conferred on social cohesion in the relationship with Latin-American countries is also remarkable. The European experience in the social field is influencing in a very subtle way the design of regional mechanisms addressed to fostering social cohesion in Latin-America. Beyond this diffuse influence, more concrete programmes, such as the EuroSocial Programme, have been set up by the European Union with a view to offering some support for increasing social cohesion in that region.The developing countries engaged in negotiations with the European Union should exploit further the harmful effect that incoherencies within the European Union’s external action might have for the European Union itself. On the other hand, the action undertaken by the European Union in supporting social cohesion, demonstrates that this Organization as a multidimensional actor intrinsically bound to back multilateralism, might play a crucial role in propelling the multilateral agenda