ECLAC Highlights Opportunities for Deepening Ties Between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean

(28 June 2011) The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, today called for a strengthening of the strategic partnership between Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe, during a seminar held at the headquarters of this regional commission of the United Nations.

The most senior representative of ECLAC was the main speaker of the opening session of the meeting "From Madrid 2010 to Santiago 2012: Evaluation and prospects for the European Union-Latin America/Caribbean strategic agenda", organized by the Latin American Centre for Relations with Europe (CELARE), in conjunction with Fundación Carolina (Spain), University of Pedro de Valdivia and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

In the meeting, which involved collaboration from institutions including ECLAC, the Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry and the European Union delegation in Chile, authorities, academics, social leaders and international officials will analyse progress in the commitments undertaken at the Madrid Summit in 2010 and progress in the 2010-2012 Plan of Action in the context of both regions, and will seek to generate proposals for the 7th Latin America and the Caribbean-Europe Summit, due to be held in Santiago next year.

The opening session was attended by Ambassador Rodrigo Gaete, Director General of Bilateral Affairs of the Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry; Gonzalo Arenas, Chair of the CELARE Board; Jaime Ruibal, from the European Union delegation in Chile; Martín Meyer, from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation; and Tomás Mallo, from the Fundación Carolina.

In her presentation, Alicia Bárcena pointed out that there is a window of opportunity for boosting the strategic partnership between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union, and that both regions are facing a historic opportunity for integration.

"There is the opportunity to share progress, by distributing gains with equity, justice, legality to produce partnerships among producers, researchers and even parliamentarians", she stated.

According to recent studies by ECLAC, the European Union has over the last there decades lost some of its share in trade with Latin America, particularly as a destination market for Latin American exports, while China could replace the EU as the region's second trading partner in the medium term.

Despite this, in the first decade of the 21st century, the EU became the main source of foreign direct investment in the region, with 43% of total flows (although this is now a downward trend).

See also:

• Presentation by ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena (in Spanish)

Any queries should be addressed to the ECLAC Public Information and Web Services Section. E-mail: dpisantiago@cepal.org; Tel.: (56 2) 210 2040.

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