The European Union's expansion in 2004 owing to the unprecedented adhesion of ten countries simultaneously signaled a movement toward endogenous concentration based on intra-European means and efforts. This expansion entails further difficulties for EU's external relations, including those with Latin America. The cultural legacy partially shared by Europe and countries such as the Latin American countries is insufficient to change current economic and trade relations. A further obstacle is the political and conceptual inconsistency of a "Latin America" that is neither an interlocutor nor a natural partner. The EU's political initiatives and their possible outcome do not go beyond affable rhetoric and good intentions or are restricted to development aid. Owing to their competing interests in bilateral or multilateral relations, the European Union and its member countries prefer to deal with similar blocs, such as Mercosur or the Andean Community, which have a more clearly defined profile.
Latin America; European Union; expansion 2004; Mercosur
