Youth, civil society and local authorities play an important role in the partnership between the European Union (EU), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
In this context, the EU organised an EU-LAC Forum, with youth, civil society and local authorities, which took place at Maison de la Poste (Tour & Taxi) in Brussels, Belgium, on 13 and 14 July 2023.
The EU-LAC Forum was organised in the context of the EU-LAC Days, the side events taking place ahead of the EU-CELAC Summit on 17 and 18 July 2023. A key deliverable of the EU-CELAC Summit was the EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda, a political commitment to work together in Latin American and the Caribbean. Global Gateway is the EU’s comprehensive investment offer to partner countries to boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems.
The overall objective of the EU-LAC Forum was to have an inclusive exchange with non-state actors and to discuss opportunities to build a sustainable and inclusive future for both regions.
Outcome of the EU-Latin America & the Caribbean Forum
The outcome of the Forum was the preparation of three complementary sets of recommendations from youth, civil society and local authorities. These valuable contributions were presented to the attention of the Leaders during the EU-CELAC Summit.
The full set can be found here:
Watch the video of the recommendations to the Leaders:
Related links
Global Gateway Forum Conclusions and Recommendations
Global Gateway EU-LAC partnership
PFD - Policy Forum and Development (pfddialogue.eu)
Commission Communication - Empowering Local Authorities in partner countries for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes (2013)
Commission Communication - The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe's engagement with Civil Society in external relations (2012)