–at third meeting between the bloc and CELAC

THE third meeting of the European Union (EU) and Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (CELAC), which is set to take place next Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, is set to focus on igniting a renewed political partnership between the two regions
This was according to the European Union’s Ambassador to Guyana, Rene Van Ness, during an interview with reporters, on Thursday.

This summit, Van Ness said, will be attended by Heads of Government of the European Union and Latin America and Caribbean Countries, including President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.
The meeting is expected to be significant, since the last meeting of this kind was held eight years ago, and it has been quite some time since both sides have spoken at that level.

Among the main objectives of this meeting, Van Ness related, is to foster a renewed political partnership between the two regions.
“Can we agree with each other that we will have, on a regular basis, a frank exchange to talk about these issues and that we have a real political partnership,” he said.
He went on to add that this is not the EU telling the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries what to do, but for the EU and LAC to come up with common solutions for the common problems that they share.

“So, it’s a political partnership and that is really where you recognise that you are equal partners at the table and not one talking to the other but with each other,” Van Ness said.
The summit, he added, will be seen as the starting point of this effort, since there is a real intention to continue and strengthen the existing partnership and continue that dialogue.

There are also other objectives which include strengthening trade between the two regions.
He said: “There’s a few other deliverables that they hope to achieve; we talked about trade and some of the regression in globalisation, so strengthening [the] EU-LAC trade agenda is definitely one of the objectives.”

While trade and strengthening the partnership stand as part of key objectives of the upcoming summit, Van Ness said climate change and other issues are also expected to be discussed to reach positive solutions.
He went on to add that climate change is a challenge that affects all countries. The ambassador mentioned that a heatwave is sweeping the South of Europe, and Guyana anticipates El Nino in 2024.

Van Ness said that this is a problem that each state cannot just solve on its own, but has to be done together once there is a recognition that this is a common challenge.