EU-Latin America and Caribbean Digital Alliance

Overview

The EU–LAC Digital Alliance provides a strategic framework to deepen cooperation between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) across the full spectrum of digital and space-related issues. Launched in March 2023, the Alliance supports the New Agenda for Relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean and the EU International Digital Strategy, contributing to stronger political, economic and societal ties.

Through Global Gateway investments, the Alliance promotes a values-based digital transformation grounded in democracy, human rights, inclusion and sustainability, while fostering innovation, competitiveness and resilience in both regions.

Approach and objectives

During the EU-CELAC Summit held in Brussels in July 2023, a Joint Declaration on the principles and objectives of the Digital Alliance was adopted, with 24 LAC countries. The mutual commitment of the regions has been reaffirmed through the CELAC - EU Joint Declaration 2025.

 Both regions work to:

• Align digital policies and strengthen good governance
• Enable safe, affordable, high-speed connectivity
• Support innovation, research, and digital skills
• Boost private–public collaboration and digital competitiveness
• Expand cooperation in earth observation, climate resilience, and space services
• Contribute to the digital transformation to boost competitiveness

A wide range of national and regional initiatives, including EU Delegation actions and Member State bilateral programmes, contribute to the implementation of the Alliance and reinforce its impact.

As a result, the EU-LAC Digital Alliance is a prime example of a bi-regional partnership that promotes the joint interest of our two regions based on shared values.

Actions

The implementation of the EU–LAC Digital Alliance brings together governments, private-sector actors, international financial institutions, civil society and academia. It is built around five strategic pillars:

1. Digital policy and governance
   Improving and aligning digital policy and regulatory frameworks through structured multi-stakeholder dialogue between the EU and LAC.
2. Secure and high-speed connectivity
   Expanding the BELLA cable programme by developing secure digital regional backbone connectivity for research and education networks within the LAC region and between LAC and the EU.
3. Digital economy and public–private collaboration
   Establishing a regional EU–LAC Digital Accelerator to connect start-ups and larger corporations, stimulate business innovation and foster cross-regional partnerships.
4. Earth observation and space cooperation
   Developing a regional Copernicus strategy supported by two regional data centres to strengthen spatial data management capacity and the strategic use of Earth observation services.
5. Digital transformation and technological advancement
   Boosting competitiveness and economic growth by enabling the uptake of digital and space-based solutions across key economic and public sectors.

Expected results include:

• At least 20 EU-LAC digital policy dialogues on issues of common interest:
  • Introductory event of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance in Central America, San Salvador (October 2023)
  • EU-LAC Digital Alliance Days in Cartagena de Indias (November 2023)
  • High-level bi-regional policy dialogue on Cybersecurity in Santo Domingo (February 2024)
  • Bi-regional policy dialogue on Artificial Intelligence during eLAC Preparatory meeting in Montevideo (March 2024)
  • High-level policy dialogue on e-Governance in San José (May 2024)
  • High-level policy dialogue on Data Governance in Montevideo (September-October 2024)
  • Second bi-regional policy dialogue on Artificial Intelligence and first high-level dialogue on Connectivity and Inclusion during eLAC Ministerial Conference in Santiago de Chile (November 2024)
  • EU-LAC High Level Dialogue on Data Governance: EU–LAC cooperation on data governance frameworks, regulation, and shared standards (April 2025)
  • 2nd EU-LAC High-Level Policy Dialogue on E-Governance in Tallin, Estonia: Cross-border interoperability, e-ID & e-signatures, digital public administration services (May 2025)
  • 1st High-Level Digital Alliance Policy Dialogue with the Caribbean in Kingston, Jamaica: Digital cooperation with Caribbean partners; launch of Digital Connectors Jamaica; digital investment and innovation collaboration (June 2025)
  • 3rd High-Level Policy Dialogue on AI & Online Platform Governance, in São Paulo, Brazil: AI governance, human-centric AI, HPC cooperation, data protection, LLMs, online-platform oversight (July 2025)
  • EU-LAC Digital Alliance Week in La Antigua, Guatemala: Multi-topic high-level dialogues and forums on cybersecurity, AI, connectivity, e-governance, data governance, Earth Observation, and digital investment (September 2025)
• The extension of the digital infrastructure of the BELLA cable to Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. BELLA is already connected to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Panama.
• The creation of 50 joint ventures, the participation of 100 EU organisations in supported digital business collaborations with LAC counterparts, and the establishment of a first-time collaboration between 40 EU organizations and their counterparts in LAC under the Digital Accelerator.
• The setting up of two regional Copernicus centres in Panama and in Chile.

Contact

For any question, please contact INTPA-B1ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (INTPA-B1[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).

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