PM Phillips attends 4th CELAC-EU summit in Colombia

Prime Minister (PM), Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, is currently in Santa Marta, Colombia, attending the Fourth European Union – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (EU CELAC) Summit. The high level meeting, is being co chaired by the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, in his capacity as CELAC Pro Tempore President. This year’s summit, which runs from November 9 to 10, reaffirms the depth and vitality of the partnership between the EU, LAC, and provides a platform for dialogue on strengthening cooperation and addressing shared global challenges. Discussions throughout the conference will focus on key areas, including the defence of multilateralism, trade and investment, the green and digital transitions, peace, security, and prosperity, as well as the fight against organised crime, corruption, and human trafficking. The EU and LAC have a long-standing partnership built on common values and a shared commitment to democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The EU’s strategic partnership with the LAC region dates back to 1999, when the first bi-regional EU-LAC summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Building upon the momentum of the 2023 EU-CELAC summit, where leaders committed to organising summits every two years, this upcoming meeting aims to further enhance cooperation on global challenges, such as global governance, international security and climate change. Leaders will also explore new avenues for collaboration to promote peace, security and prosperity in both regions and discuss priorities such as trade and investment, the green and digital transitions, and the joint fight against organised crime, corruption and drug and human trafficking.
The EU-LAC relations involve one of the world’s densest trade networks, with a total bilateral trade in goods and service of €395 billion in 2022-2023 (+45 per cent since 2013). The EU is the third largest trading partner of the LAC region, while LAC countries are the EU’s fifth largest trade partner. In the last decade alone, the EU’s trade in goods with CELAC has grown by over 52 per cent and trade in service has almost doubled. Moreover, the EU is the leading source of investment in the region, providing over €741 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2022. The EU-LAC partnership is further supported by the Global Gateway investment agenda, focused on green and digital transition projects in the LAC region.