Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union: towards a real renewed political partnership. Civil society proposals to strengthen the bi-regional relationship

Document by the EU-LAC Working Group for the EU’s New Agenda towards Latin America and the Caribbean and its bi-regional strategy.

In the current context of global transformation, overlapping crises and gradual post-pandemic recovery, relations between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have the potential to promote sustainable development and advance human rights. For this to happen, civil society should be involved as a key actor to enhance the inclusiveness, transparency and effectiveness of processes. After a relative standstill on the bi-regional agenda, there has been an agreement to renew the strategic partnership during a new EU-CELAC Summit on 17 and 18 July in Brussels, and the Joint Communication “A New Agenda for EU-LAC relations” published by the European Commission, setting out the EU’s priorities and actions. However, these initiatives lack a horizontal bi-regional governance structure, the commitment to demanding due diligence processes and measuring the operational impact on inequalities, and the participation of civil society. In order to establish a real renewed political partnership, international civil society brought together a set of recommendations in this Position Document, signed by organisations from both regions, tackling four main challenges:

  1. Towards an open civic space for a vibrant democracy.
  2. Towards an EU-LAC agenda that puts the fight against inequalities at its centre.
  3. Towards a Green and Just Transition for both regions.
  4. Towards just and sustainable investment and trade agreements.

Read our proposals to strengthen the bi-regional relationship here:

 

Position Document “LAC and EU: Towards a Real Renewed Political Partnership” Executive Summary “LAC and EU: Towards a Real Renewed Political Partnership” Documento de Posición “LAC y la UE: hacia un partenariado político renovado y real” Resumen Ejecutivo “LAC y UE: hacia un partenariado político renovado y real”