The two-day summit of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States (EU-CELAC) ended here on Tuesday with a Declaration containing “wide-ranging agreements” concerning all the major contemporary issues confronting both regions.
“We have some actions to do, we have a lot of follow-up. This is really just part of the process of the renewal and this reaffirmation of the friendship and the relationship between Latin America and the Caribbean,” St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves told the end of the summit news conference.
Gonsalves, who is also the CELAC pro tempore president, told reporters that the summit, the first to be held in the last eight years, will now take place every two years and that the European Union is stronger today than it was yesterday or the day before yesterday as a consequence of the declaration.
He described the two-summit as a “historic gathering” and the Declaration contains “wide-ranging agreements of 41 paragraphs concerning all the major contemporary issues which concern us, both regions.
“ What we have to seek to build is not only a relationship between states, but the relationship between civilisations, Latin America and Caribbean and European civilisation. We touched on a wide range of practical issues…and not everybody got the language which they wanted. You would expect that there will be disagreements and it was hard to get the Declaration but we have arrived at this particular point.”
But Gonsalves said the Declaration touched on issues concerning climate change, reform of the international financial architecture, inclusive sustainable development and matters which have arisen out of history including the contemporary manifestations of historical legacies, like for instance, slavery and the slave trade.
He said another issue was that of the “terrible embargo against Cuba” as well as the question of the involvement of the private sector in the development of Latin America, in the Caribbean and in Europe.
He said issues of international human rights and good governance and multilateralism and the defence of international law, defence and promotion of international law, fundamental precepts of the Charter of the United Nations made flesh were also dealt with during the summit.
During the news conference, the European Union announced that on the first day of the summit, it launched the Global Gateway investment agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean.
“We will bring over Euro 45 billion of high-quality European investment to Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 135 projects are already in the pipeline. So it’s a very good start.
“Now, of course, together we have to shape the investment agenda. And we have to decide which sectors which value chains to prioritise and then we have to implement and deliver the range of projects is very wide goes from clean hydrogen to critical raw materials, from data cable networks. To mRNA vaccines.”
The EU said that it was important to have discussed the Global Gateway and that “we want that our investment comes with the highest environmental and social standards, with transparency about what is happening.
“We want to share technology and knowledge and the training of local workforce for the jobs of the future is one of the core elements.
“For us as important in this investment and that makes it different that the local communities benefit from the value chain the added value there. This is also in our interest, because we want reliable and trustworthy suppliers,” the EU official said, adding that several bilateral agreements had been concluded at the summit.
The declaration also notes that the parties “look forward to the signature of the partnership agreement between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union and its Member States and the implementation of the regional protocol, which will further strengthen relations between the Caribbean and the EU”.
The accord which is a follow-up to the Cotonnou Agreement, the overarching framework for EU relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries that ended in 2020.
However, to avoid a legal vacuum in relations, the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement were extended until end-June 2023. The matter will be discussed at two-day EU-OACPS Council meeting that gets underway here on Wednesday.
The leaders in their Declaration also expressed concern regarding the continuing deterioration of the public security and humanitarian situation in Haiti, where criminal gangs have been causing widespread havoc and the population living in fear. In addition, efforts are being made to replace the government of Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry that came to office following the July 2021 assassination of then President Jovenel Moise.
The summit called for continued sub-regional, regional and international efforts to support the process of dialogue between the government, the various political parties, institutions and other actors of Haitian society, “with the aim of drawing up a road map that will allow them to overcome the complex crisis that afflicts them.
“We call on the international community and organisations to support Haitian-led efforts to find a solution to this crisis, based on the principles of solidarity and international cooperation, with the consent and participation of Haitian authorities,” the Declaration added.
On the issue of Ukraine, a major talking point here, the summit expressed “deep concern on the ongoing war against Ukraine, which continues to cause immense human suffering and is exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks.
“In this sense, we support the need for a just and sustainable peace. We reiterate equally our support for the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the efforts of the UNSG to secure its extension. We support all diplomatic efforts aimed at a just and sustainable peace in line with the UN charter. “
Gonsalves disagreed with questions by reporters that too much time had been taken up with the Russia-Ukraine war, saying “absolutely not”.
He said he had prior to the summit informed the European Union that “we cannot make this summit between the European Union and CELAC be a summit on Ukraine. But clearly Ukraine is a matter of great importance to Europe and the world.
“Clearly, we have concerns, Europe has concerns about Ukraine …and the concerns for us about Ukraine among other things is the terrible suffering that is taking place among peoples who are directly involved in the conflict but also because of increase in prices, shortage….”
On the issue of climate change, Gonsalves said the Declaration notes “we stress the importance to fulfil the commitment by developed countries jointly to mobilise promptly US$100 billion per year for climate finance to support developing countries, and to double He recalled a promise had been made in Stockholm dating back to 2009 and “we should start something by 2020, nothing has happened.
“Now we are having the 27 countries of the European Union saying we are going to push and do something about this. Now this is an important Declaration. Now we have to work through details ….
“I know it is good for journalists to be cynical …but there is great promise here and I think we should not suspend our judgement as to what is here, but to hold us and particularly the Europeans in this case…to hold their feet to the fire.
“I mean it would be an awful thing if you write that in paragraph 23 (of the Declaration) and then in 2025 you see no money. That will be a hell of a thing. Then your cynicism will be justified,” Gonsalves told reporters.
