On July 17 and 18, the III Summit of Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) was held in Brussels, Belgium.
This meeting in the community capital took place eight years after the II EU-Celac Summit was held, in June 2015. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, described the event as a “political success”; while the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that “it has been an excellent summit, it has been like a new beginning”.
“We promise to renew and continue to strengthen our already deep-rooted bi-regional association, which is based on common values and interests and on close economic, social and cultural ties,” the authorities stated in the Final Declaration.
The authorities promised to strengthen the dialogue between the two regions. “We reaffirm that collaborating as sovereign partners we are stronger and we are better placed to face the many crises and multiple challenges of our time, such as food insecurity, poverty, inequalities in both regions, disruptions in supply chains and rising inflation,” they add.
They also indicated that they will cooperate to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and environmental degradation, in accordance with the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities.
The final document was supported by all the attending countries, “with a single exception for disagreeing with one of the sections,” they clarify at the end of the text, 41 points and 10 pages long.
During the day on Tuesday, the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry announced that “did not sign, approve or accompany what was announced todaypompously and falsely, as a Consensus Declaration of the III Celac-European Union Summit”.
In the text, it is indicated that the EU “has broken all the procedures and mechanisms established by the democratic organisms” and has gone “over the rules” that base the operation of each entity.
position on the conflict
Precisely the conflict in Ukraine, although it was not the subject of the summit, was one of the issues addressed at the meeting in the community capital and complicated the drafting of the Final Declaration, due to differences between both blocks; and even caused intrigues from before the meeting was held.
However, finally the topic was included in the documentwhere the signatory countries expressed their “deep concern” about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In the text are added that support “all diplomatic efforts that seek to achieve a just and sustainable peace in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations”.
Latin America questions the EU
During the discussions that took place in Brussels, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, criticized the EU’s position on the conflict and stated that “the resources that are essential for the economy and social programs“.
He also mentioned that “resorting to sanctions and blockades”, such as those applied by the EU on Russia, “without the protection of international law, only serves to penalize the most vulnerable populations.”
Similarly, the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, criticized that “trillions of dollars in weapons are sent for the war”but they are not capable of “contributing to the integral development of humanity with the objectives of sustainable development, proposed by the UN”.
governance
In the speeches at the summit, Lula advocated the need to transform “global governance”, since, in his opinion, “the current model of world governance perpetuates asymmetries; while Castro added that they are obliged to “analyze the architecture of the world”, which “does not contribute to avoiding dependency, migration, and deterioration of the environment”.
For his part, Pedro Sanchez, President of the Government of Spain, commented that today, more than ever, it is necessary to renew the “common confidence in the values of multilateralism“.
In this regard, in the Final Declaration, the leaders highlighted the need to “strengthen the multilateral system” and “promote more effective and inclusive global governancewhich respects international law”.
They also agreed to strengthen their collaboration with international financial institutions and multilateral organizations, recognizing that it is essential to have a system that allocates adequate resources for sustainable development and responds to the specific needs of the most vulnerable countries.
Agreements
“We will continue to strengthen and develop trade and investment relations between the EU and the CELAC countries and regions”, says the Final Declaration, in which the parties recognize the importance of “open and fair trade” based on rules agreed at scale international.
The meeting in Brussels was conducive to signing some agreements and making announcements. Von der Leyen reported that the EU will invest, until 2027, 45,000 million euros (approximately 50.6 billion dollars) in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In addition, the EU signed memorandums of understanding with Argentina, Ecuador, Honduras and El Salvador. As well as agreements with Chile and Uruguay.
A memorandum of understanding was signed with Argentina on “energy cooperation”, advertisement President Alberto Fernandez. “For the benefit of our growth and generating employment, we can be reliable providers in the transition towards clean and renewable energy,” he said.
With Ecuador, the memorandum of understanding seeks to expand cooperation in the environment, social and economic policies, science, education, security, migration, investment, human rights, energy and development. The president of the South American country, Guillermo Lasso, checked of “historic”, because “it marks an important rapprochement for the benefit of both parties”.
Regarding Honduras, the memorandum of understanding was on matters of “political consultations”, reported the Foreign Ministry of the Central American nation. Similarly, the document signed with El Salvador seeks to “consolidate bilateral and collaborative ties,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
With Chile, the community authorities signed an agreement to obtain raw materials such as lithium and coppercrucial for the production of vehicles and batteries, and promote energy transition projects in the South American country in return.
Meanwhile, with Uruguay they signed a energy cooperation agreement to promote the production of green hydrogen and promote renewable energy in that country.
Regarding the agreement with the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), the Final Declaration of the summit only indicates that they take note of “the work in progress” between both parties.
However, in interventions made by the authorities in different forums, optimism was shown in this regard. “I think we have a window of opportunity to ratify it in the second half of 2023,” said Sanchez.
Most followed Summits
On the other hand, in the Final Declaration the leaders also spoke out against the blockade against Cuba, in favor of dialogue on the issue of the Malvinas Islands, expressed their concern about the critical humanitarian situation in Haiti, reaffirmed their support for the peace process in Colombia and also encouraged a constructive dialogue in Venezuela.
Sanchez called for meetings like this “don’t make yourself wait eight years anymore”.
In this sense, the final document established hold summits every two years; So, it was decided that the next one will take place in a Celac country in 2025. In this regard, Jorge Rojas Rodriguez, Colombia’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, confirmed that his country will be the venue for that meeting.
Both parties established the “EU-Celac Roadmap 2023 to 2025”, which includes a series of events and meetings at different levels until the fourth summit between the two blocks is held.
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Source: RT
