EU and the Caribbean | Mayors will make their recommendations to national leaders

The European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean Forum of Local and Regional Governments (EU-LAC LRG Forum) will meet in Bogota (Colombia) on 6 and 7 November, bringing together local and regional governments from both regions, just before the IV CELAC-EU Summit, scheduled to take place on 9-10 November 2025 in Santa Marta.

This biennial summit brings together Heads of State and Government from the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Following the successful 2023 Summit, which took place in Brussels, the strategic partnership was renewed with shared priorities and concrete actions to deepen cooperation, in line with the June 2023 Joint Communication: A New Agenda for Relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The meeting will reflect on opportunities for greater partnership and mutual support, allowing for political positioning between subnational authorities from both continents, and work to influence the EU-LAC bi-regional agenda.

EU-LAC LRG Forum

The IV LRG Forum will be a closed high-level event bringing together elected representatives and politicians such as mayors, governors, presidents of subnational governments from the EU and CELAC, their networks and associations, and some partner institutions.

Our partner CLGF will be mobilising a delegation from the Commonwealth Caribbean to ensure the specific issues facing SIDS and Commonwealth countries are included and reflected in the meeting discussions and outcomes.

Building political support for outcomes

The Forum will be divided in two segments: a technical section on key regional thematics on the first day; and a political mayors’ round table on day two. The meeting will discuss:

• The challenges of local democracy: cross-cutting perspectives between Europe and Latin America
• Territorial development in the EU-CELAC strategic agenda
• The opportunities for LRG within the EU’s Global Gateway investment programme
• Cooperation between continents on key thematic areas such as climate, social justice, economic development & equitable economic development

A political declaration is being developed and advocacy to heads of State from both regions will be undertaken in the lead up to the Summit to build buy-in for the recommendations towards inclusion of the key elements in the IV CELAC-EU Summit.

(Photo by Yves Alarie on Unsplash)