Europe takes stock of its relations with Latin America and chooses Italy as the venue for the meeting. The Italian Foreign Ministry today hosts the conference entitled “EU Relations with Latin America: from Social Resilience to Global Governance”, organised by the Foreign Ministry and the Institute for International Affairs (IAI), with the contribution of the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) and the Italo-Latin American Institute (IILA). The meeting focuses on three topics. The first is hpw the European Union can develop its policies in a way that may improve the resilience of Latin American countries, especially how the EU can enhance its efforts to support peace processes and agreements in the region in order to put in place better governance and socio-economic development models.
The second is the way in which Europe can strengthen its ties with regional organisations, including CELAC, SICA, CARICOM, Mercosur and UNASUR. The achievement of this goal is very promising in the light of the very sound relations established between the Old Continent and Latin America. These ties are soundly grounded on the closeness of the two continents’ cultures, the fact that the EU is the world’s major investor in the region and the large two-way inter-continental migration flows.
The third topic focuses on how the European Union and Latin America can optimise their cooperation on a number of bilateral, multilateral and global interests, spanning from mitigating climate change, combating terrorism, increasing trade and fighting transnational crime.
In order to optimise the debate, the conference was divided into four sessions. The first session is dedicated to how the EU can contribute to achieving good governance practices and social resilience in Latin America. The second focuses on promoting dialogue between Europe and the Latin American region. The third deals with leading the EU and Latin America towards a more global, efficient and effective governance system. The fourth session will wind up the event with closing remarks by Mr Mario Giro, the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs and by Luis Almagro, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS). The day’s agenda includes a keynote speech by Ms Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
