The EU-LAC Foundation, together with the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, organised the summer course “European Union - Latin America and Caribbean Relations: New Times and Renewed Commitments”. The meeting, which took place from 23 to 25 July in Spain, brought together nearly 250 participants, consisting of students and speakers, from 22 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.
The course, organised annually, aims to address the challenges and promote good practices in relations between the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean. The most recent edition was organised in collaboration with the Organisation of Ibero-American States, the University of Extremadura, the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, the Ibero-American General Secretariat and the Fundación Euroamérica.
This space for reflection and debate contributes significantly to the study and promotion of peaceful, just, safe, solidary and egalitarian societies in both regions. The shared priorities, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), include the green transition, the digital transition and the social transition, with the aim of mitigating the uncertainties of a world in constant evolution and moving together towards greater security, the strengthening of democracy and economic growth.
Carlos Maza, Coordinator of Intergovernmental Relations at the EU-LAC Foundation, and Diego Durán, Coordinator of Inter-institutional Relations, both intervened in the first block of the course, entitled "Two Summits and a New Era in the Relations between Europe and Latin America". During their interventions, Durán and Maza stressed the importance of promoting and giving continuity to the bi-regional dialogue, especially in this period between summits, in order to avoid pauses such as the one experienced before the EU-CELAC summit in 2023.
Throughout the course, various challenges common to both regions were identified, including social and economic inequality, the climate crisis and migration. In this sense, the importance of this space was emphasised as an essential platform to advance in the institutionalisation of the bi-regional agenda, as well as to continue exchanging and forging alliances.
Other blocks of the course analysed more specifically issues of insecurity and transnational organised crime, existing dialogue bodies, governance as a challenge in EU-LAC relations, and democratic challenges in the context of the rise of populism in the EU and LAC. The course was very actively attended by the public.
Find the programme in the annex and the recordings of the lectures here.
