On Monday 26 October, Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, congratulated the Chileans on their massive participation in the referendum on the reform of the country’s constitution despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Participation which, in his view, sends “a clear message for peaceful change” and a sustainable, equitable and inclusive future (see EUROPE 12371/22).
On Sunday 25 October, Chileans chose to draft a new Constitution to replace the one inherited from the Pinochet era by a very large majority (80% of voters with a turnout of 50%). The Constitutional Convention will be made up of equal numbers of citizens only.
In the European Parliament, the chair of the Delegation of the European Union to Chile, Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero (S&D, Spain) and the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister (EPP, Germany), stressed the “democratic maturity” of the Chilean people, particularly during the referendum campaign. They also call on all parties to cooperate in a fair manner in this new constituent phase, which begins with the election of the members of the Constitutional Convention in April 2021. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)