EU-LATIN AMERICA: INSTITUTIONS FOR COOPERATION AND LATIN AMERICANS' TRUST IN THEM

Relations between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean have been rather unstable. Despite several significant successes achieved in the framework of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean Summits (EU-LAC), in fact, in the late 1990s they entered a period of stagnation. The vision of the key tasks of multilateral cooperation between the European Union and LAC was different. For the EU interaction with Latin America was important, both from the point of view of greater consolidation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and from the point of view of its greater involvement in the world agenda already in the positions of a prominent actor, broadcasting its authority outside the traditional sphere of influence. For LAC, relations with Europe were considered as a mechanism capable of activating, first, intra-regional processes. This article discusses the development of cooperation between the European Union and Latin America, which is traditionally special for both regions, at the present stage. Despite the different vision of the main goals and objectives of interregional relations, the partnership between the EU and LAC are built around three main institutions of cooperation: political dialogue, assistance and trade. These three thematic vectors were identified at the I EU-LAC Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1999, as the basis for bilateral cooperation. The author examines in detail all three institutions of multilateral interaction, including their achievements and obstacles. The mechanisms of cooperation launched under the pressure of new global challenges are identified. A separate section of the article is devoted to the analysis of the results of public opinion polls, which sheds light on the attitude of Latin America towards the European Union and its regional policy. The author approaches the analysis of the EU-LAC cooperation model comprehensively and bilaterally: from the standpoint of common tasks in the international arena of both the EU and Latin American countries, considered in close connection with the ongoing global and regional latest processes.