The Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) had an initial discussion on Wednesday 29 March, on the content and format of the summit between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, scheduled for Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 July, in Brussels.
The majority of delegations that spoke stressed the importance of holding this summit, the first since 2015, with partners that generally share the same vision as the EU on the defence of multilateralism, respect for the Rule of law and the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, and the fight against organised crime.
Nevertheless, the EU has sanctioned Venezuela and Nicaragua for human rights abuses and maintains open relations with Cuba.
The two partner regions are also convinced of the urgency of making the climate and digital transitions successful. On this point, to reduce their dependence on China, the EU is keen to establish partnerships with Latin American countries, which have significant resources of critical raw materials. One of them is lithium, a metal that is essential for the production of electric batteries.
The prospect of the summit puts pressure on the EU and Latin American to finalise several outstanding bilateral trade agreements, notably those with the Mercosur countries, Chile and Mexico. Another important issue is the revival of post-Cotonou partnerships with Caribbean countries, with some EU countries calling for a specific meeting alongside the July summit.
“The CELAC countries are approaching the summit with high expectations and are calling for concrete deliverables”, said a briefing note for the Coreper discussions, a copy of which was given to EUROPE. The fight against poverty and inequality, food security, disaster preparedness and public debt reduction are also mentioned. It should be noted that the Global Financing Pact summit on climate financing, one of the thorny issues at the last COP between developed and developing countries, will take place in Paris on 23 June.
According to the note, some Latin American and Caribbean countries may raise more contentious issues, such as EU action against imported deforestation, money laundering, illegal fishing and visa-free access to the Schengen area. The EU will not rule out measures that help the countries concerned strengthen their capacity to comply with EU requirements.
The proposed themes for the EU-CELAC summit are: - multilateralism and strengthening rules-based order; - the green transition, including food and energy security and biodiversity protection; - the just digital transition; - trade; and - the economy and sustainable development. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)