Between geoeconomics and geopolitics: a new cycle of relations between the EU and the CAN?

Historically, relations between the European Union (EU) and the Andean Community (CAN) have been marked by a shared aspiration: to build interregional ties based on cooperation, trade, and shared values. Since the 1990s, the EU has been a strategic partner for the Andean countries, offering technical cooperation, development assistance, and a model of regional integration that inspired various Latin American experiences. However, the signing of the Multipart Trade Agreement between the EU, Colombia, and Peru in 2012 — and Ecuador’s later accession in 2016 — marked a turning point: relations shifted from interregional to primarily bilateral. This dynamic of preferential trade agreements responded to the new international trade context, in which both the United States and the EU had moved toward competitive bilateralism, where economic competition prevailed over geopolitics. Thus, in the early 2010s, the EU adopted differentiated agreements, moving toward a bilateral and pragmatic logic. The CAN was left on the sidelines of direct negotiations with Brussels, and the ideal of an interregional relationship began to fade. The EU then prioritized market opening and the diffusion of its regulatory standards, relegating the political and strategic dimensions of the relationship to the background.

In recent years, however, the international context has changed dramatically. The return of great-power rivalry, the growing importance of economic security, and the global green transition have placed the biregional relationship in a new scenario, where geoeconomics and geopolitics increasingly intertwine.

The European geoeconomic shift and the CAN

The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the intensification of U.S.–China rivalry triggered a turning point in European foreign policy. The notion of “open strategic autonomy,” promoted by Brussels since 2020, reflected the need to rebuild Europe’s economic and technological sovereignty while ensuring secure and sustainable supply chains. Within this framework, the Global Gateway was launched in 2021 as an investment platform seeking to mobilize over €300 billion in green, digital, and social infrastructure in partner countries. Unlike traditional cooperation programs, the Global Gateway has an explicit geoeconomic nature, aiming to counterbalance China’s Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen critical value chains, and project European capabilities in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, critical minerals, and digital connectivity. For the Andean countries—rich in natural resources and strategically located between South America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific—this new approach opens opportunities but also presents challenges of alignment and autonomy.

Today, the CAN faces a dual challenge: maintaining its relevance as a subregional bloc and repositioning itself in light of a Europe that is once again turning its gaze toward Latin America under a renewed strategic interest. The Andean countries occupy different positions in Europe’s equation: Peru and Colombia are consolidated trade partners; Ecuador seeks to deepen its ties through the Multipart Agreement and the green agenda; while Bolivia, still outside the agreement, emerges as a relevant player due to its lithium reserves, although it appears more aligned with China after recently joining BRICS+. Together, the CAN countries represent an intersection between critical resources, energy transition, and environmental governance challenges — three central themes of the European agenda. However, political divergences hinder the articulation of a common voice. The CAN, originally conceived as a project of productive integration and regulatory harmonization, could regain relevance if it manages to present a joint position toward the EU on issues such as sustainability and digitalization.

From geoeconomics to geopolitics: a new reading of the relationship

The EU–CAN relationship can no longer be understood solely in terms of trade or cooperation. The rise of geoeconomics, the strategic use of instruments, and a new global cycle introduce additional challenges. Green infrastructure projects, investments in energy transition, and digitalization programs have become instruments of soft power—but also tools of competition for influence and access to resources. At the same time, the geopolitical dimension has become more visible. The EU seeks to reposition itself as a global actor in a multipolar world, and Latin America emerges as an indispensable partner for diversifying alliances beyond the United States and China. In this context, the CAN is not merely a peripheral space but a territory where European and North American interests converge with the strategies of the Global South.

Colombia and Peru maintain free trade agreements with both the United States and the EU. Peru, moreover, has become a key partner for China since the signing of its FTA in 2009 and with the recent inauguration of the Chinese-financed Chancay Port, reinforcing its transpacific link. Ecuador, which nearly a decade ago decided to join the EU Multipart Agreement, has recently signed an FTA with China despite its political and cooperation alignment with Washington. Colombia, a traditional U.S. ally, has sought to strengthen its ties with China and has applied to join the BRICS New Development Bank. Bolivia, as mentioned, has stayed outside these negotiations, leaning more clearly toward China and the BRICS+ bloc.

Given this landscape, the EU must find a niche to position itself strategically in the Andean region. The CAN countries, for their part, can take advantage of this context to promote their own agendas—for example, linking European green cooperation with policies of sustainable industrialization and local value-added production. However, this requires greater regional coordination and a shared strategic vision. Without a common Andean policy, the risk is to remain trapped in asymmetric bilateral dynamics, in which the EU continues negotiating with each country separately according to its own specific interests, as currently happens with Global Gateway projects.

Conclusion: Toward a strategic relationship?

The upcoming EU–CELAC Summit represents a decisive opportunity to rethink the political meaning of the biregional relationship. After years of distance and limited coordination, the reactivation of this space could mark a new cycle of strategic cooperation. The EU seeks reliable partners to promote the green and digital transitions; Latin America, in turn, seeks partners that recognize its agency within an increasingly fragmented international system. If the Summit succeeds in translating political declarations into effective cooperation mechanisms — for instance, through a permanent platform for political and technical dialogue between the EU and Latin American subregional blocs — the relationship could advance toward a truly strategic, more balanced, and long-term partnership.

Relations between the EU and the CAN are currently undergoing a process of reconfiguration. From regulatory cooperation to trade, and now to strategic geoeconomics, the relationship reflects the transformations of the international order. For the CAN, the challenge is to turn this renewed European attention into a tool for strengthening its autonomy and sustainable development. For the EU, the challenge lies in overcoming the bilateral vision that has long characterized its engagement with the Andean countries and moving toward a more coherent interregional approach, similar to the one it maintains with Mercosur. The upcoming EU–CELAC Summit in Colombia will thus serve as a litmus test: if it succeeds in articulating common agendas, it could inaugurate a stage of mature dialogue and strategic cooperation; if not, the risk will be a return to a fragmented and unequal relationship.

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Dr. Cintia Quiliconi holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC), a Master’s in Political Science from New York University (NYU), and a Master’s in International Relations from FLACSO Argentina. She is currently Coordinator of the PhD in International Studies, a Professor and Researcher at FLACSO Ecuador. Dr. Quiliconi has served as a consultant for ECLAC, UNDP, WHO, IDB, and the World Bank. Her publications include Global and Regional Leadership of BRICS Countries (2015), Los desafíos del crecimiento con sustentabilidad e inclusión en América Latina (2014), and Bilateralism in a Globalized World (2011).

The opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of the EULAS Network.

Blog Image credit: Initialling of Trade Agreement between the EU and Ecuador by Francisco Rivadeneira, on the left, and Cecilia Malmström, Etienne Ansotte for the European Union, 2014. Original Source Here.