Europees-Latijns Amerikaans parlementaire groep rondt eerste zitting af (en)

The first ordinary plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EUROLAT) came to a close in Brussels on Thursday. The co-presidents lauded the high turnout of parliamentarians and the comprehensive debates that took place throughout the 3-day event. The assembly also gave unanimous approval to three resolutions on aspects of EU-Latin American relations.

EUROLAT co-president José Salafranca (EPP-ED, ES) noted that he had "never seen such a high level of turnout or commitment at an interparliamentary meeting as in the last couple of days." He noted the importance of such a body as EUROLAT, saying that its role is ever more vital in a time when "the EU has managed to provide itself with instruments to act on the international scene," after its "institutional siesta" of agreeing on a Reform Treaty.

Jorge Pizarro (Chile), EUROLAT's other co-president, also congratulated the assembly on its success in engaging in "real political debate." He said that "if we're able to put forward proposals to our leaders at the Lima summit, we'll have justified our existence and our involvement," adding that "creating greater social cohesion and sustainable development" remain the primary tasks of the assembly.

Resolutions and debates

The plenary adopted three resolutions on Thursday:

-EU-Latin American relations with a view to the Fifth Lima Summit and with special reference to democratic governance

-Challenges and opportunities resulting from globalization for the economic and trade relations between the EU and Latin American countries

-Sustainable development and environmental balance in the relations between the EU Member States and Latin America in the context of global warming

While the first two resolutions were adopted without amendments and by unanimity, the last one gave rise to an extensive debate about water issues, pitting those with favourable views of privatising water management against those who want to keep it in public hands. In the end, the assembly adopted an amendment that considers the private management of water resources to be detrimental, by making it more difficult for populations to access this vital resource.

Background

The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EUROLAT) brings together 120 Parliamentarians from the European Parliament, the Andean Parliament, the Central American Parliament and the Latin American Parliament, as well as national representatives from the Mexican and Chilean legislatures, and members of the joint parliamentary committee of MERCOSUR. Its three standing committees: Political, Security and Human Rights Affairs; Economic, Financial and Trade Affairs; and Social, Environmental, Educational and Cultural Affairs held meetings on Wednesday morning, to provide drafts for the reports adopted today in plenary.

For further details and all the documents from the EUROLAT Assembly, please consult the link below.