Berlin hosted the event “Beyond Santa Marta: Bi-regional Cooperation for Tangible Action”, a high-level forum organised by the EU-LAC Foundation that brought together representatives from governments, European and Latin American institutions, the private sector, academia and civil society, with the aim of advancing the implementation of the commitments adopted at the IV EU–CELAC Summit held in Santa Marta.
The meeting established itself as a key space to reflect on how to translate the Santa Marta Declaration into concrete outcomes and effective follow-up mechanisms, strengthening a strategic partnership that, after more than twenty-five years, remains one of the broadest and most diverse at global level.
In the opening of the event, Pablo Sader, Ambassador of Uruguay to the European Union and to the Kingdom of Belgium and Luxembourg, underlined that “reaching the Santa Marta Declaration, with substantive content and operational values, is already an achievement”, reaffirming his country’s commitment to contributing to the construction of a roadmap based on concrete action.
Likewise, Pelayo Castro, Acting Managing Director for the Americas at the European External Action Service, stressed that the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean are “natural partners and, looking ahead, partners by choice”.
Alberto Brunori, Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation, emphasised that the bi-regional partnership is grounded both in shared values — democracy, human rights and multilateralism — and in common strategic objectives, as reflected in the consensus reached in Santa Marta.
In turn, Annette Walter, Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the German Federal Foreign Office, highlighted that the Declaration reaffirms the commitment to the rule of law as a foundation for resilient and inclusive societies.
The event agenda was structured around two main thematic sessions. The first, “A Common Agenda for Sustainable Transformation”, addressed three priority areas for bi-regional cooperation: economic innovation, trade and investment; climate action and environmental resilience; and the recognition of care work as a pillar of social cohesion. These issues were developed by Orlando Baquero, Chief Executive Officer of the Business Association for Latin America (LAV); Carlos Manuel Calzadilla, Climate Protection Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Ecologic Institute; and Olga Montúfar, President of the Network of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Women with Disabilities of Latin America and the Caribbean, respectively. The discussions were enriched by comments from Diana Montero Melis, official at the European Commission; Christian Burgsmüller, Head of the Americas Division at the European External Action Service; and Paulo Gustavo Iansen de Sant’Ana, Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of Brazil in Berlin, under the moderation of Zirahuén Villamar, researcher at the Project Office for Education and Research.
The second session, entitled “Rule of Law, International Security and Global Challenges”, focused on youth in the face of challenges related to security, rights and opportunities, as well as on the international order and the future of multilateralism. The presentations by Sabine Kurtenbach, Acting President of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), and Claudia Zilla, Senior Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik – SWP), were complemented by comments from Luis Enrique Chávez Basagoitia, Ambassador of Peru to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union, and Holger Dreiseitl, Head of the Division responsible for Germany’s role at the United Nations at the German Federal Foreign Office, with moderation by Astrid Bosch, Project Manager of the GIZ LAK-FSDRIO programme.
The event concluded with a shared call to strengthen EU–CELAC cooperation through results-oriented approaches, bringing together political commitment, technical expertise and multi-stakeholder participation. Beyond Santa Marta made clear that the immediate challenge is to move from dialogue to action, ensuring that bi-regional agreements translate into tangible impacts for both regions in terms of sustainability, inclusion, stability and shared prosperity.
