The EU – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit scheduled for July 17-18, 2023, in Brussels, under the Spanish presidency of the EU, will be the first in eight years, marking the XIX meeting since 1999.
The first summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 28, 1999, focused on increased cooperation with Latin America for the 21st century.
At the second summit in Madrid, Spain, in May 2002, the EU-Chile association agreement was emphasized, and prospects for future agreements with the Andean and Central American countries were discussed.
The May 2004 meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, included new EU members and initiated talks for association agreements with Central America and the Andean Community.
The summit in Vienna, Austria, in 2006 sought to strengthen transatlantic relations and announced the opening of EU-Central America negotiations.
The Lima Declaration, a joint program against climate change, was signed at the May 2008 summit in Peru.
The 2010 Madrid, Spain, summit agreed on the creation of the EU-LAC Foundation, emphasizing multilateralism and financial institution reforms.
In January 2013, the EU advocated for increased international trade liberalization in Santiago, Chile.
The Brussels Declaration, signed at the June 2015 summit in Belgium, promoted stronger political dialogue, especially on global issues like climate change and drug control.
The XIX summit in El Salvador, originally planned for 2016 and then for 2017, was canceled due to disagreements over the crisis in Venezuela.
The upcoming summit in Brussels, Belgium, in 2023 will emphasize the quality of EU investments compared to China’s.
With information from EFE