Press conference by Javi LÓPEZ (S&D, ES), Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly on Eurolat standing committees' meeting in Brussels 30 November-2 December

EP delegation

press conference

LÓPEZ, Javi (S&D, ES)

EU - Latin America (T)

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi L&Oacute;PEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, Thank you very much. And I'd like to thank representatives from the press who are here today to hear about the work that's being done by our assembly, to hear also about the critical messages that we wish to convey after doing our work here in Brussels over the past few days. Following the Parliamentary Assembly that was held in Buenos Aires last April.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, This week, over 60 Latin American MEPs and the 65 members of the European Commission have been meeting and over the course of our Assembly. We had the opportunity to hear from Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Commission. We heard also from the President of the Senate of Colombia. And this afternoon, we will also have an opportunity to hear from Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, which is further proof of the keen interest of European institutions in betting today on our ties with Latin America.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, The six bodies that make up the assembly have been meeting over these four days, working together, adopting reports. And yesterday, the bureau met. This was an opportunity for us to adopt the statement issued by both co-president and this is the political statement put out by the over 100 employees from either side of the Atlantic.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, And as we are here in Brussels, we wish to insist on the fact that this is a joint message on what is happening on European ground today, particularly when it comes to the war of aggression led by Russia in Ukraine. And we have a condemnation in the firmest terms of this aggression and shared hope of a world order rooted in rules based ties. And we wish to speak out against this flagrant breach of international law.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, And we wish also to speak out in favour of the sovereignty of states and their territorial integrity. But that's not all. There are further concerns to the economic fallout of the war, for instance, particularly when it comes to the energy crisis, which has struck Europe full force, but indeed has struck beyond that as well. And there is also the crucial matter of food security and the matter of food prices.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, One of the essential issues that has to be tackled today by the international community and when it comes to these crises, our assessment is the Latin America has an essential role to play here when it comes to tackling both the energy crisis and the food crisis too. Furthermore, there is a need to continue working together when it comes to fighting climate change.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, Once again, Latin America has one or is home to some of the world's richest biodiversity. 70% of the world's species are in Latin America. They're in some of the biggest reserves of fresh water of the world that we have Amazonia. One of the main lung that beating heart of air on our planet. Which means, of course, that all of that Latin America has a crucial role to play in this field.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, And in addition to this. We feel that we're at a crucial juncture to carry on deepening our ties with Latin America. And over the past ten years, our ties with Latin America has not been a priority for European foreign policy, where there's been a specific focus on neighbourhood policy and internal crises. But in light of the context today, and also perhaps because the war in Ukraine is meaning that we have to be more strategic in our thinking.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, Europeans can see that it's time to push forward and deepen our ties latin America and 2023 we will have the Spanish Presidency of the Council. We have a vice president who is very sensitive to our links with the region. So this is an opportunity for us, a watershed moment that we need to make the most of. This means that we need to carry on working to update agreements with Chile and Mexico as well as other partnership and association agreements.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, We're on the verge of signing off with the final ratification of the Mexican and Chilean agreements, and these are highly relevant to the EU. Then there's the matter of the Mercosur agreements. And here. Further work needs to be done. Make no mistake. And that requires political capital, political will, and both sides of the Atlantic getting organised and getting together.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, We need political ties that are in line with the economic ties that bring us together because our political ties are lacking when it comes to our economic investments in the region, where the top investors in the region and it's been far too long since there was a summit between heads of state and government on the Latin American side and on the European side.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, And so this coming June, we very much hope to be holding a summit, bringing together both regions, which is of crucial importance to us. Again, we wish to keep working on those association agreements, on summits, on political dialogue, to build a joint agenda that we can work on together.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, And I would like to wrap up by saying in the multilateral international bodies, which need to have new life breathed into them today were in a context where there are different crises taking place on a global scale. And if we want true multilateralism, if we want shared institutions and shared rules, shared dialogue, well, both regions make up a third of the members of the United Nations, which means that we are uniquely placed to push that forward.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Javi LÓPEZ, Chair of the delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, And what's more, we share many values, such as democratic values. We have what it takes if we coordinate to push things forward in the United Nations, to revitalise that forum and also to play a leadership role which the world needs today. So that's all for me.