On 17 and 18 July, the EU and the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean states (CELAC) met in Brussels. The Summit gathered Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States and of the 33 CELAC states.
During the two days of productive discussions, a number of bilateral agreements were concluded, including in the field of critical raw materials (CRMs), as well as new financial opportunities for the two regions.
EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda (GGIA)
Commission President Von der Leyen announced the GGIA, a €45 billion package to support more than 130 "green and digital" projects, including CRM projects in Chile and Argentina. The GGIA will be delivered through public-private partnerships. The list of projects are available here.
EU-Chile Memorandum of Understanding
President von der Leyen and the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing a partnership on sustainable raw materials value chains. The MoU focuses on five areas:
Integration of sustainable raw materials value chains, including through joint development of projects, new business models, promotion and facilitation of trade and investment linkages
Cooperation on R&I along the raw materials value chains
Cooperation to leverage environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria and align with international standards
Deployment of hard and soft infrastructure for projects development
Strengthening capacities, vocational education and training and skills development along sustainable raw materials value chains
To read the full MoU, click here.
Other outcomes of the summit include: EU-Argentina MoU on renewable energy, hydrogen and methane emissions abatement, €300 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Banco Santander Brazil for small-scale solar energy investments, €300 million loan from the EIB to Chile towards mortgages for new housing units with improved energy efficiency standards and MoUs on bilateral consultations with Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador, emergency funding for humanitarian needs for Haiti.
To read more, please click here.
Cover picture from DAINA LE LARDIC / Reference: EP-154281A / Copyright: © European Union 2023 - Source : EP