Centre de développement
New EU development cooperation strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean
New EU development cooperation strategies
in Latin America & the Caribbean
Monday 30 June 2014, 15h-18h
OECD Conference Centre CC15, Paris
Agenda
Opening Remarks by Angel Gurría, Secretary-General OECD
The Latin America and Caribbean region has become a predominantly middle-income region, where governments are facing increasingly complex policy challenges, in particular linked to avoiding the middle income trap. These challenges range from strengthening domestic sources of growth, improving the capacity to diversify and compete in segments of higher value added in the global economy, to facilitating a pattern of growth that includes the society in the opportunities it provides, in a context of an emerging middle class that demands more and better public services. On the other hand, some countries in the European Union have not fully recovered from the financial crisis and are facing severe challenges in sustaining their social models, and maintaining competitiveness based on skills, innovation and investment.
Both regions need to define and put in place structural reforms and sound public policies. Learning from good practices then becomes crucial in both contexts, and collaboration based on this type of exchange should be encouraged. The EU-Latin America relationship is moving from a traditional cooperation model toward a strengthened peer learning model, where the will to share experiences and to learn from innovations appears to be more decisive than the funds. Given this backdrop, creating platforms for the exchange of experiences and knowledge on policy design and implementation, could be a tool for both European and Latin American and Caribbean countries as they work on crafting new sustainable and inclusive development strategies.
This meeting will shed light on evolving forms of development cooperation between the European Union and the Latin America and the Caribbean region, by looking closely at new strategies of development cooperation based on knowledge sharing and mutual learning on development related policies and to the role of non-traditional partners for the region. The discussion will draw on the case of the EU’s programme EUROsociAL, as a catalyst for change in international development policy formulation and implementation. The two sessions will tackle those issues gathering 3 speakers, from Latin American middle income countries; from the more active EU partners in the region (such as France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain), who traditionally maintained a strengthened relationship with Latin American and Caribbean countries); and from not traditional EU partners.
| 15:00 – 15:15 |
Welcome Remarks
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| 15:15 – 16:30 |
Session 1. Renewed modalities of the European Union development cooperation with Latin AmericaThe EU is a key economic and political partner for Latin America and the Caribbean: it is the leading donor in the region, the second foreign investor, and the second most important trade partner. In a context where Latin American and the Caribbean countries are facing challenges related to the middle income trap, a renewed collaboration between the EU and the Latin American region calls for the two regions to become key partners in the exchange of good policy practices. This session will examine how the EU leverages the former development cooperation priorities and actors in the Latin America and the Caribbean region to continue building on this longstanding partnership. An emphasis will be given to defining the role of non-traditional EU partners in a new the region in light of this renewed cooperation. Chair:
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| 16:30 – 16:45 | Coffee break |
| 16:45 – 18:00 |
Session 2. EUROsociAL II: Paving the way for enhanced cooperation programmes with Latin America and the CaribbeanEUROsociAL is a leading European Union regional technical co-operation programme that aims to promote social cohesion in LAC through the support to national public policies oriented to improve social cohesion, and strengthening institutional capacities for their implementation. This session will focus on EUROsociAL II as a model for development cooperation in Latin America that goes beyond traditional assistance, based on an horizontal relationship between EU and Latina American countries (“partners” and not donors/receptors), on peer learning, and on a model that turns policy dialogue into concrete actions and results, at regional and national level. In particular, the speakers will be invited to reflect on the following key questions: To which extent and why policy dialogue and peer learning could be appropriate instruments to tackle the challenges of both regions? Chair:
Commentators:
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| 18:00 – 18:15 |
Closing remarks
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| 18:15 – 19:15 | Cocktail |
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