THE MULTILEVEL ARCHITECTURE OF EU-CELAC POLITICAL DIALOGUE: INSTRUMENTS OF INTERACTION IN THE LATIN AMERICAN DIMENSION

Abstract

Background. Interregional cooperation has become an increasingly important mechanism for political coordination, policy alignment and the articulation of shared interests in a more fragmented international environment. The EU-CELAC framework is a particularly illustrative case because it combines summit diplomacy, intergovernmental coordination, parliamentary interaction, expert support and the engagement of EU member states. Purpose. The article examines the multilevel architecture of political dialogue between the European Union and CELAC and identifies the principal instruments through which the EU advances its Latin American policy. Methods. The study combines institutional, structural-functional and comparative analysis with qualitative content analysis of official EU-CELAC documents, EU policy papers and relevant academic literature. Results. EU-CELAC dialogue is shown to operate through interregional, intergovernmental, supranational, parliamentary and expert-platform levels whose functions are mutually reinforcing. Summits, joint declarations, roadmaps, ministerial consultations, EuroLat, the EU-LAC Foundation, Global Gateway and Team Europe are systematised according to their political functions. The analysis also demonstrates that Spain, Portugal, France and Germany shape the intensity and thematic priorities of the partnership. Conclusions. EU-CELAC should be understood as a flexible multilevel model in which strategic framing, institutional continuity, representative legitimation and analytical support interact. Its durability depends less on any single institution than on coordination across levels and on the capacity to link political declarations with operational instruments.