Modernization of the EU-Chile Association Agreement: environmental and energy sustainability?

Abstract

The European Union (EU) and Chile formalized their economic relations with the signing of the EU-Chile Association Agreement in 2002 and its entry into force in 2003. With the implementation of this agreement, the EU became the main direct investor in Chile and its third largest trading partner. However, two decades later, both actors reached a preliminary agreement on a new EU-Chile Advanced Framework Agreement, which encompasses modernized trade, political and cooperation pillars, with special emphasis on environmental and energy sustainability. The EU's energy security policy, focused on reducing dependence on Russian gas imports and diversifying its supply; the energy crisis in the region marked by an adverse international situation due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict; the worldwide promotion of a new generation of green energies and, specifically, the emergence of Chile as a leader in the production of lithium and green hydrogen; have been the determining factors in the process of modernizing the EU-Chile Association Agreement of 2002, which became the EU-Chile Advanced Framework Agreement, and in the specific attention to environmental and energy sustainability.