The EU Model: Can Integration Remedy Central American Underdevelopment? EUMA Papers, Vol. 4 No. 10 April 2007

Solorzano, Leandro R. (2007) The EU Model: Can Integration Remedy Central American Underdevelopment? EUMA Papers, Vol. 4 No. 10 April 2007. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

[Introduction]. On April 17th, 2007 the European Union announced it would be giving Central America an aid package totaling 840 million Euros. Commissioner for EU External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the aid package included an increment of 25% intended to help the Central American region in their integration efforts. Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner reiterated the EU’s continued commitment to help the Central American countries achieve political and social stability through democracy, justice, security, while fighting poverty and protecting the environment.1 The EU’s aid package presented to Central America is just another in a long series of development aid that the EU has given to the region. Historically the EU has been the largest aid donor in the region and has been the main proponent of Central American integration. Central America attempted integration back in 1824, shortly after the nations achieved independence, but it was short lived and was dissolved in 1848. A second attempt at integration was sought in the 1960s in what would have been the first Latin American customs union.2 This ambitious goal was backed by the then six members of the European Economic Community (EEC) and was named the Central American Common Market (CACM). The CACM was envisioned as the ideal tool for the integration of the five Central American countries which were expected to rapidly industrialize and develop.

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