Colombia is preparing to become the epicenter of political dialogue between Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe, as it hosts the IV CELAC-EU Summit, to be held in Santa Marta. The summit will bring together leaders from both regions to promote a common agenda focused on key global challenges.
This November 9th and 10th, Santa Marta will host the IV Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU). Representatives from 60 countries, along with the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, will meet to renew commitments to shared interests and strengthen economic, social, and cultural ties between the two regions.
“Currently, trade between the two regions exceeds 200 billion euros annually (Eurostat, 2024), which underscores the importance of deepening an effective and sustainable bi-regional dialogue,” stated the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia.
With more than 1 billion inhabitants, CELAC and the EU represent 14 percent of the world’s population and 21 percent of global GDP. Their strategic partnership constitutes the main forum for political and economic dialogue between the two regions.
Currently, the European Union is Latin America and the Caribbean’s third-largest trading partner and its main source of foreign direct investment, with more than 741 billion euros in 2022, according to the European External Action Service.
In this context, CELAC is consolidating its position as the main intergovernmental mechanism for dialogue and political coordination in Latin America and the Caribbean. Created in 2011 with the purpose of strengthening regional integration and cooperation, it makes decisions by consensus and its main body is the Summit of Heads of State and Government, according to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Building on the momentum of the EU-CELAC summit held in July 2023, where a commitment was made to organize a new meeting every two years, the meeting in Santa Marta represents a further step in strengthening bi-regional cooperation.
Within this framework, Colombia holds the pro tempore presidency of CELAC, which will allow it to assume a central role in promoting a unified Latin American and Caribbean voice in the dialogue with the European Union on strategic issues. The summit will be chaired by President Gustavo Petro, along with António Costa, President of the European Council.
With the aim of advancing the “triple transition” of energy, digital, and environmental development, the meeting seeks to give new impetus to relations between CELAC and the EU, focusing the agenda on dialogue about clean energy, climate finance, and digital governance. The goal is to build a long-term alliance that contributes to balancing economic asymmetries and strengthening the strategic autonomy of Latin America and the Caribbean vis-à-vis other regions, explains the European External Action Service.
As a prelude to the summit, the LAC-EU Civil Society Forum 2025 was held from November 7-8, with the participation of 200 delegates in person and 1,500 virtually. The meeting helped to foster the participation of youth organizations, women’s groups, Indigenous peoples, social actors, and institutional representatives, according to the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO).
From November 7-10, the Meeting of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledge: The Moral Duty to Imagine a Future – Manifestos from Colombia took place — to “erect symbols and actions of resistance against the voracity of capitalism, genocide, ecocide, and the rise of fascism,” CLACSO stated.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR and CAMBIO ]
