In the headquarters of SELA

Regional Meeting on LAC-EU Relations and the V Bi-regional Summit in Lima

Caracas, 25 February 2008.- The Regional Meeting “Latin America and the Caribbean-European Union Relations and the V bi-regional Summit of Lima” will be held on 28 and 29 February 2008 in Caracas, with the participation of delegates from the 26 Member States of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), representatives of international and regional organizations, and other renowned personalities

The meeting, which will take place in the headquarters of the organization, is aimed at proposing SELA’s Member States some elements that could contribute to establish a common position for the region as a fundamental factor to make progress in the upcoming LAC-EU Summit, scheduled to be held in Lima in May 2008.

In this connection, the meeting is intended to review the various approaches and perceptions of subregional groups (such as SICA, CARICOM, MERCOSUR and the Andean Community) and other regional organizations (ECLAC, ALADI and the ACS) as regards relations with the European Union and the results that could be expected from the Lima Summit.

SELA will draft a brief document summarizing the results reached by consensus during the meeting and will submit it to its Member States as a contribution for the Lima Summit.

Said document would also be forwarded to the authorities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru in charge of organizing the V LAC-EU Summit for their evaluation.

This activity, organized by the Permanent Secretariat of SELA, will be sponsored by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), the Bank for Social and Economic Development (BANDES) and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF).

The Work Programme of the Permanent Secretariat of SELA for 2007, approved by consensus by the Member States, includes a follow-up to the status of the relations between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union, as part of an assessment of the results of the IV bi-regional Summit held in Vienna in May 2006 and in preparation for the upcoming Summit in Lima this year.

Accordingly, in February 2007, the Permanent Secretariat held a regional seminar on the economic relations between the two regions and submitted an analysis of the main results of the IV LAC-EU Summit, including the general principles of the EU’s external cooperation strategy for the period 2007-2013.

Similarly, participants in the seminar discussed the fundamental guidelines for a possible proposal on the methodology for Latin America and the Caribbean to prepare itself for the next bi-regional summit.

The debates, which will take place during the Regional Meeting on 28 and 29 February, will focus on the analysis of the document “Towards the Lima Summit: Background and elements to build common positions in the region”, prepared by the Permanent Secretariat of SELA.
  

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   SELA,  Permanent Secretariat
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Caracas 1060- Venezuela
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