Global Gateway

In Costa Rica the EU’s offer focused on five key priorities:

• Partnership on Green and Blue Transition:  the EU is engaged in priority areas such as transport and mobility, new models of green energy, agricultural innovation, biodiversity, oceans, reforestation, waste management and circular economy in line with the EU circular economy action plan.
• Innovative green financial instruments: the EU supports development of green bonds market and access to finance accelerating financial flows towards green, inclusive and resilient transitions, including through green and blue bonds to support a sound enabling framework for scaling up systems.
• Digitalisation and innovation: to support Costa Rica government’s commitment to create secure digital ecosystems, ensure data governance, boost cybersecurity, and deploy robust, resilient and sustainable telecommunications networks including the roll-out of 5G, and last km connections.
• Innovation and resilient healthcare solutions: to support Costa Rica’s ambition to become a frontrunner of the EU-LAC Roadmap on Health Resilience by accelerating pharma manufacturing, focusing on an adequate legal frameworks, human talent and e-health.
• Migration: the EU assistance focus on technical assistance on migration management, including social services and economic integration, shouldering the government’s efforts which have increasingly come under national pressure.

At Regional level, the EU is supporting Central America to maximize the benefits for the region of the Regional Electricity Market, including the connection with extra-regional markets. A more efficient Regional Electricity Market will contribute to increasing regional competitiveness, mitigate the negative effect of climate change and expand the share of variable renewable sources in the generation of regional electrical energy.

The EU works at regional level to facilitate trade and promoting interoperability of national systems with the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), including with the development and deployment of the Digital Trade Platform (PDCC).

Team Europe is collectively working on Global Gateway Flagships to advance these priorities, including:

• Sustainable Mobility: Team Europe (the European Union, its Member States – including public development banks and implementing agencies –, the European Investment Bank together with the European private sector) has presented Costa Rica with a comprehensive investment and cooperation package to contribute to meeting the objectives defined by the Government’s policy on decarbonisation of public transport. This Global Gateway project includes, among other aspects, a regulatory framework and capacity building, investments in electric trains, support for the electrification of the bus fleet, charging infrastructure, battery recycling, training and job creation. The interaction of these elements will contribute to improving mobility services for the population, while supporting Costa Rica's efforts to meet the objectives adopted in its public policies. The GG considers the application of high international environmental, social and governance standards that reflect our common values.
• Green Bonds: The partnership between UNEP FI and the EU permitted the adoption of the Costa Rica Sustainable Finance Taxonomy in August 2024. Fully aligned with the EU taxonomy it defines for the first time what an environmentally sustainable investment is in a standardized way, establishing a common frame of reference that helps actors in the real economy and the financial sector of Costa Rica to identify those investments that contribute to the fulfilment of the country's environmental and social objectives. Building on this important achievement, the EU’s Global Green Bond Initiative (GGBI) is working with Costa Rica to ensure its future issuance of green bonds is a success and it is welcomed by EU investors. At the same time, the EU is supporting Costa Rica in the development and identification of a pipeline of bankable projects in line with green bond framework.

Regional Electricity Market: with a Team Europe approach to reach scale and create impact, the EU is leading a political and investment plan to support Central America countries and its regional Institutions to modernise the existing regional electricity market, moving it from a short-term surplus market to a long-term market that eventually considers connection with extra-regional markets.  This will allow a more consistent regional planning of investments boosting regional competitiveness, and mitigating the negative effect of climate change and expand the share of variable renewable sources in the generation of regional electrical energy.