Joint support for the various subregional integration systems such as MERCOSUR, CAN, or SICA (the Central American Integration System) enables the partners to safeguard their interests, engage in dialogue, and exert mutual influence; it strengthens the multilateral approach advocated by Europeans and Latin Americans alike; and, above all, it shifts the focus of attention away from the question whether the membership of the different blocs might be enlarged or changed, or whether new initiatives might emerge to promote integration (these would have greater prospects of taking root if they were founded on practical achievements of the kind that could be brought about by intensive relations between the Union and the established regional groupings).
Joint support for the various subregional integration systems such as MERCOSUR, CAN, or SICA (the Central American Integration System) enables the partners to safeguard their interests, engage in dialogue, and exert mutual influence; it strengthens the multilateral approach advocated by Europeans and Latin Americans alike; and, above all, it shifts the focus of attention away from the question whether the membership of the different blocs might be enlarged or changed, or whether new initiatives might emerge to promote integration (these would have greater prospects of taking root if they were founded on practical achievements of the kind that could be brought about by intensive relations between the Union and the established regional groupings).