Two years after their third successful summit, the leaders of the 27 European Union (EU) member states and the 33 countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will meet in Santa Marta, Colombia on 9-10 November 2025 for the fourth CELAC-EU summit. The summit will be co-chaired by the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, in his current role as CELAC pro tempore president, and the President of the European Council, António Costa. The EU will also be represented by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

This summit underscores the commitment of both regions to strengthen their longstanding partnership, which is founded on shared values and interests as well as and strong economic, social and cultural ties.

Building upon the momentum of the 2023 EU-CELAC summit held in July 2023, where leaders committed to organising summits every two years, this upcoming meeting aims to further enhance cooperation on global challenges, such as global governance, international security and climate change. Leaders will also explore new avenues for collaboration to promote peace, security and prosperity in both regions and discuss priorities such as trade and investment, the green, digital and transitions, and the joint fight against organised crime, corruption and drug and human trafficking.

Background

With over 1 billion people, CELAC and the EU together represent 14% of the world’s population, 21% of global GDP and one-third of UN membership. EU's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as a strategic partnership date back to 1999, when the first bi-regional EU-LAC summit was held in Rio de Janeiro. Since the creation of CELAC in 2010, three EU-CELAC summits were held in 2013, 2015 and 2023. The summit constitutes the main forum for dialogue and cooperation between EU and CELAC states, which maintain regular high-level contacts through several bi- and sub-regional political and sectoral dialogues and coordination mechanisms.

The EU-LAC relations involve one of the world’s densest trade networks, with a total bilateral trade in goods and service of €395 billion in 2022-2023 (+45% since 2013). The EU is the third trading partner of the LAC region, while LAC countries are the EU’s fifth largest trade partner. The EU is the leading source of investment in the region, providing over €741 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2022. The EU-LAC partnership is further supported by the Global Gateway investment agenda, focused on green and digital transition projects in the LAC region.

• EU-CELAC summit, 17-18 July 2023
• CELAC International
• Latin America and the Caribbean (European External Action Service)