Madrid hosts the fifteenth session of the EuroLat Assembly from 24-27 July

The European and Latin American parliamentarians will be received by His Majesty King Felipe VI next Monday and will hold various meetings focused on relaunching the bi-regional dialogue.

The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) will hold its fifteenth meeting in Madrid on 24-27 July, one week after the 17-18 July summit of EU and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) leaders in Brussels. The 150 EuroLat members – 75 MEPs and 75 representatives of Latin American and Caribbean parliaments – will have the opportunity to assess the results and conclusions of the summit, the first at the highest level since 2015.

The participants of this assembly will be received in audience at the Palacio de El Pardo by H.M. King Felipe VI on Monday 24 at 17:30.

Opening session and information for journalists

The main activity of the EuroLat Assembly will take place at the seat of the Spanish Senate. The opening speech at the inauguration, which will take place on Wednesday 26 July at 11:15 a.m., will be given by the acting Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez (to be confirmed). The President of the Senate, Ander Gil, will give the welcoming remarks, while there will also be speeches by the President of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxell Batet, and the co-presidents of EuroLat, MEP Javi López (S&D, Spain), and Colombian Congressman Óscar Darío Pérez.

This session will be followed by a press conference in the Salón de los Pasos Perdidos of the Senate, which can be followed live here. Journalists wishing to cover both these statements to the press and the EuroLat Assembly should register with the Spanish Senate by writing to acreditaciones.prensa@senado.es (specifying their full name, ID card or passport number, name of the media outlet and the event/s they plan to attend). The accreditation must be collected at the entrance of the Senate in Bailén Street.

New Agenda to strengthen EU’s partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean

Assembly proceedings

The plenary session of the EuroLat Assembly will take place on Thursday 27 July, during which reports and recommendations previously prepared on Tuesday 25 July by the various committees and working groups that make up EuroLat will be debated and voted on, including the fight against hate speech, the regulation of digital platforms, the challenges of COVID-19 in education and health, access to water, the fight against organised crime, trade negotiations and the universal declaration of the rights of nature.

The session will close on Thursday at 13:30, with a keynote speech by the acting Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. Also speaking will be Ander Gil, President of the Senate, MEP and EuroLat co-chair Javi López (S&D) and Amado Cerrud, who will be elected during this 15th Assembly as President of the Latin American component of the EuroLat Assembly.

More about EuroLat

The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) is the parliamentary institution of the European Union – Latin America and the Caribbean Bi-regional Strategic Partnership and meets in plenary session once a year. The last plenary session took place in April 2022 in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

The Assembly has 150 members. The 75 members of the Latin American component include representatives of Parlatino (Latin American Parliament), Parlandino (Andean Parliament), Parlacen (Central American Parliament), Parlasur (Mercosur Parliament) and the joint parliamentary committees of Chile and Mexico.

The Bureau (consisting of two co-presidents and 14 co-vice-presidents) coordinates its work and activities and is responsible for relations with the EU-CELAC Summit, the EU-LAC Foundation and ministerial conferences. On the occasion of their participation in the 3rd EU-CELAC Summit, the Co-Presidents of the EuroLat Parliamentary Assembly, Javi López and Oscar Darío Perez, had the opportunity to take the floor and address their joint message to the Heads of State and Government.

More information: European Parliament