Knowledge-based economy

The report identifies several global trends that will shape the world in 2030. They include: •• The empowerment of the individual, which may contribute to a growing sense of belonging to a single human community; •• Greater stress on sustainable development against a backdrop of greater resource scarcity and persistent poverty, compounded by the consequences of climate change; •• The emergence of a more polycentric world characterised by a shift of power away from states, and growing governance gaps as the mechanisms for inter-state relations fail to respond adequately to global public demands

Climate change, demographic transitions, expectations for better health and greener and more inclusive economies are among the drivers for more scientific and technological cooperation and innovation. The Guadalajara Summit in 2004 therefore placed the development of an EU-Latin-Caribbean Knowledge Area on the political agenda of bi-regional relations. In 2010, this concept gains fresh momentum through the endorsement of a new Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation. The selection of concrete research collaborations, mostly from the 6th and 7th Research Framework Programmes included here, can only cover a small part of the wide thematic range of joint activities addressing problems and oportunities of mutual interest.These projects mobilise teams from across Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and other continents as well. They are either still on-going or recently completed. New collaborations will come on-stream in 2010, 2011 and beyond to turn declarations into practice. They represent a sizeable potential for innovation in the direction of sustainable development and social inclusion, the focus of the 2010 EU-LAC Summit in Madrid.

This document analyses the aforementioned changes in four chapters that compare and contrast the realities of the two regions. After this introduction, chapter I analyses the new consensus represented by the signing of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. Chapter II looks at the situation in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union in relation to global economic conditions, considering macroeconomic, trade and foreign direct investment matters, as well as production and industry. Chapter III reviews progress on the social front in the two regions. Chapter IV considers the position of the European Union and CELAC in relation to the new vectors of change, basically the digital economy and climate change. Lastly, chapter V offers some final considerations.