Brussels, 10/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The participants in the EU-Latin America and Caribbean summit, which opened in Brussels on Wednesday 10 June, have highlighted the importance of a relationship between equal partners, and of taking a qualitative step in the relations that unite the bi-regional bloc.
“The differences in our two regions will go on diminishing”, said European Council President Donald Tusk, at the opening of the summit that brought together 61 delegations. Speaking in Spanish, he urged the summit participants not to be content with the results already achieved but to adapt the Euro-Latin American relationship to recent geopolitical developments. “We have a duty to cooperate” in areas such as the eradication of poverty, the defence of common values (democracy, human rights), the establishment of a “balanced” strategy to fight against drug trafficking and reducing climate change in view of the UN COP 21 climate conference in Paris in December, Tusk added. He also gave his support “to the process of modernisation” that is under way in Cuba (negotiations between the EU and Cuba will resume next week). And he was delighted that a specific action plan is being put in place to strengthen citizens' security.
On behalf of the European Commission, its president Jean-Claude Juncker underlined the importance of trade between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean. Trade in products and services, which has “doubled in a decade”, now stands at €212 billion, he said. Europe's direct investment in Latin America stands at €1 billion, in other words “more than in China, India and Russia put together”. Strong in these results, Europeans would like the investment made to allow added value to be gained. Juncker therefore launched “a call for a common research area” on both sides of the Atlantic, based on the Horizon 2020 framework programme that is open to Latin American countries.
Environmental colonialism. Agreeing to make the environment a political priority, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa warned against “environmental colonialism” through which NGOs, steered by Western governments, would put pressure on the developing countries not to make use of their raw materials (for example, oil in the Amazon), and would prevent these countries from financing their populations' basic needs.
On the sidelines of the summit, the European Commission (on behalf of the EU) and Peru and Colombia initialled visa waiver agreements that will lift the obligation for visas for Peruvian and Colombian citizens staying in the European Union (except the UK and Ireland) for fewer than 90 days in a period of less than 180 days (see EUROPE 11187). The agreements are only expected to enter into force at the end of October, once all the procedures in the two blocs have been completed.
During the EU-CELAC summit, the Commission announced that it had increased by €118 million the allocation to EU programmes intended to increase investment and economic cooperation on both sides of the Atlantic. Implemented with financing mechanisms that combine subsidies and loans, the programmes concerned will support projects and infrastructures in transport, energy and the environment, as well as the development of the social and private sectors in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The ELAN programme was also initiated, which focuses on setting up a network of innovation and services to European and Latin American companies. Allocated a budget of €11 million, it will be deployed in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica.
The summit is expected to give a mandate to the European and Latin American foreign ministers to cooperate more actively and more frequently than simply when bi-regional summits are held. This increased cooperation is expected to take place on regional issues such as “the peace process in Colombia”, “the reforms in Cuba” and “the reconstruction of Haiti”, said High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.
In addition, the ministers officially approved the transformation of the EU-LAC Foundation into an international organisation on Tuesday 9 June. Based in Hamburg and led (jointly) by the former European commissioner for foreign affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner, this foundation has contributed since May 2010 to weaving links on both sides of the Atlantic in numerous sectors - such as education, the media and entrepreneurship (see EUROPE 10895). As the main financial support for the foundation, the EU announced that it was increasing its allocation by €3 million. On the sidelines of the summit, the EU-LAC Foundation rewarded two bi-regional projects - the TECHO project, which provides a roof to people in need in 19 countries in Latin America, and the FALFRA System project, which is a cooperation platform between health authorities on the regulation of illegal medicines. (Mathieu Bion)