At the Inauguration Ceremony of the I EU-CELAC Summit in Santiago de Chile, the President of the European Union – Latin America and the Caribbean Foundation (EU-LAC Foundation), former EU Commissioner for External Affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner, presented the Heads of State and Government with a letter on behalf of the Foundation. The letter describes the Foundation’s activities since its creation at the VI EU-LAC Summit in Madrid in 2010, and its plans for the near future. The EU-LAC Foundation will be transformed into an International Organisation over the next few months.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner delivered the letter to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and EU Council President Herman van Rompuy.
Van Rompuy stated in his address to the Heads of State and Government of the 33 LAC countries and the 27 EU Member States: "We are pleased to see the EU-LAC Foundation up and running, and we look forward to the conclusion of negotiations for turning it into a fully-fledged international organisation, as soon as possible. On its side, the EU will spare no effort to achieve this within the next few months."
Likewise, the EU Commission's President José Manuel Barroso welcomed the Foundation's activities: "I am proud of the EU-LAC Foundation's activity, whose goal is to work to bring our civil societies closer together. Because these Summits, our partnership, the political dialogue, are not an end in themselves, but just the medium through which to promote economic and social development and to increase the well-being of our peoples and citizens."
To read Herman van Rompuy's full speech, please click here.
To read José Manuel Barroso's full speech (in Spanish and Portuguese), please click here.
Photo: Alex Ibáñez