The EU's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean

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The European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean have enjoyed privileged relations since the first bi-regional Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1999, which established a strategic partnership. They are natural partners linked by strong historical, cultural and economic ties. They co-operate closely at international level and maintain an intensive political dialogue at all levels - regional, sub regional (Central America, the Caribbean, Andean Community and Mercosur) and, increasingly, at bilateral level.

Summits of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) leaders take place biennially, the last one was held in Madrid, Spain in May 2010, and the next one will be held in Santiago, Chile, in January 2013. 

HRVP Catherine Ashton has said: "The EU is following with interest the dynamics of Latin America and I believe we need to find even more ambitious ways of working together."

 

EU-CELAC -A Strategic Partnership for the 21st century

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), launched in 2010, is a regional mechanism for political dialogue and cooperation encompassing for the first time all 33 LAC countries. It merged the Rio Group (political consultation forum) and CALC (“Cumbres América Latina y Caribe” – internal LAC Summits). From now on CELAC will be the EU's counterpart for the bi-regional partnership process, including at summit level.  

Apart from the biennial summits and regular Senior Officials’ Meetings, the EU and CELAC are pursuing a number of specific thematic dialogues and initiatives including:   

  • The Joint Initiative on Research and Innovation fosters sustainability and social inclusion through a targeted focus on science, research, technology and innovation.
  • The EU-CELAC Structured Dialogue on Migration  provides a framework to exchange best practices and build capacities that can help to address bi-regional migration challenges.
  • The EU-CELAC Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on Drugs  provides a policy dialogue structure aimed at tackling the world drug problem and is a reflection of the shared and common responsibility in this area. COPOLAD

 

Latest European Union High Level visits to the region

EU-CELAC Leaflet pdf - 823 KB [823 KB] español (es) français (fr) português (pt)

For more information on the EU policy towards the region:

EventsRSS

  • 26/01/2013  - 
    18 12015 1 1st EU- CELAC Summit / 7th EU-LAC Summit, Santiago de Chile, 26-27 January 2013 1st EU- CELAC Summit / 7th EU-LAC Summit, Santiago de Chile, 26-27 January 2013 /la/summits/2013/index_en.htm 01/26/2013 00:00:00 04/02/2008 00:00:00 01/26/2013 00:00:00 nulldate 2013012600 090126248907ed03 N 090126248954cbbf /la/summits/2013/index_en.htm 14341 xml Y /la/summits/2013/index_en.htm 4 /la/summits/2013/index_en.htm /la/summits/2013/index_es.htm /la/summits/2013/index_fr.htm /la/summits/2013/index_pt.htm /la/summits/2013/index_zz.htm N ID_INTERNAL N N
    1st EU- CELAC Summit / 7th EU-LAC Summit, Santiago de Chile, 26-27 January 2013
  • 21/01/2013  -  Catherine Ashton travels to Latin America
  • 20/01/2013  - 
    17 12015 1 Seminar "Summit Diplomacy: challenges and opportunities for new regionalisms", 22 February 2013, Brussels Seminar "Summit Diplomacy: challenges and opportunities for new regionalisms", 22 February 2013, Brussels /lac/docs/segib_seminar_annotated_agenda_22_feb_en.pdf 01/20/2013 00:00:00 01/23/2013 12:12:00 01/20/2013 00:00:00 nulldate 2013012000 090126248945dad4 N 090126248945dad4 /lac/docs/segib_seminar_annotated_agenda_22_feb_en.pdf 36186 pdf Y /lac/docs/segib_seminar_annotated_agenda_22_feb_en.pdf 1 /lac/docs/segib_seminar_annotated_agenda_22_feb_en.pdf /lac/docs/segib_seminar_annotated_agenda_22_feb_zz.pdf N ID_INTERNAL N N
    Seminar "Summit Diplomacy: challenges and opportunities for new regionalisms", 22 February 2013, Brussels pdf - 36 KB [36 KB]

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