Global Gateway and Latin America: more than just investment or simply competing against China?

During the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2023, the focus on Latin America was certainly expected. A High Representative of Spanish nationality could be beneficial also. And consequently, initially the focus was on upgrading old agreement with Chile and Mexico as well as on finishing possibly one with Mercosur (on the 7th of December there could be an announcement). But a new way of developing relations with external partners started a couple of years ago. By December 2021, the European Commission was launching "The Global Gateway Approach" with an initial budget of 300 billion, of which half of it would be allocated almost immediately to the Africa-Europe Investment Package, and around 45 billion to Latin American and the Caribbean. The initial communication from the Commission established a clear value-based approach; “Global Gateway will channel EU spending on global infrastructure development in accordance with the following key principles: "Democratic values and high standards, Good Governance and Transparency, Equal partnerships, Green and clean, Security-focused", and finally and equally, if not more importantly due to its innovative aspect "Catalysing private sector investment". Considering the projects that Global Gateway is funding, with a clear focus on infrastructure and communications, and considering the strong emphasis on values, this could be interpreted as a reaction to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. In the case of Chile, the European Union also quickly signed an agreement related to Lithium after Argentina decided to sign with China. Considering all of this, this paper aims to unpack the construction of The Global Gateway Approach with its norms-based rhetoric, and test it within a context, where multiple agreements already exist and might have contradictory goals (trade versus green policies or development versus extractivism). This paper will use the case study of Chile, due to its upgraded agreement being signed in a few days, while having a large amount of reserves of Lithium, and the presence of already these two Global Gateway projects: 1) Production of Green Hydrogen 2) Development of critical raw materials value chains for lithium and copper By unpacking the EU relations with Chile from different angles, (trade agreements, investment, and political discourses), it will be possible also to understand and analyse how cohesive (or not) the Commission has organised its external relations towards a region that has become more relevant recently due to, in part, the presence and influence that China has developed in the region, and the natural resources available, in a context of constant crises and external threats (Ukraine, new cold war etc).