IV Forum of Local and Regional Governments European Union – Latin America and the Caribbean 2025

The city of Bogotá (Colombia) hosted the IV Forum of Local and Regional Governments European Union – Latin America and the Caribbean on 6 November.

The Provincial Council of Barcelona and the Observatory for Decentralized Cooperation, as organizing members of the event, have signed the Declaration that emerged from this Forum, which asks the Heads of State and Government of the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean to design a strategy for the localization and territorialization of the investment agenda of the new EU Global Gateway strategy, which incorporates and recognizes the role of local and regional governments in an inclusive manner both in the preparation of proposals and in their execution.

The European Global Gateway strategy promotes investment projects that contribute to advancing connectivity policy to respond to the needs of this region, create local added value and promote growth, employment and social cohesion. This is the EU's contribution to reducing the investment gap worldwide, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Climate Change Agreements. It is expected to mobilise €300 billion in public and private investment worldwide.

The declaration also calls on States to officially recognise this forum of local and regional governments within the framework of the EU-CELAC Summits of Heads of State and Government and to open an effective regular space for dialogue, as well as to make a firm commitment to strengthening care policies, ensuring access to quality, accessible and viable care services as a fundamental pillar for social well-being, gender equality and sustainable development.

The European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean Local and Regional Government Forum is a meeting of authorities representing sub-national governments from both regions, and which meets on the occasion of the Summits of Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). 96 people participated: 20 political representatives and elected authorities of sub-national governments, 7 from the EU and 13 from CELAC, from 13 countries (3 from the EU and 10 from CELAC). Also participating were management and executive staff from the main global, regional and national associations of mayors, councilors; international cooperation organizations, the United Nations and the diplomatic corps. The Barcelona Provincial Council and the Observatory of Decentralized Cooperation are the only local authorities that are organizing members of the event and have participated since its first edition. The previous edition, in 2023, took place in the Paranímph of the Escola Industrial de Barcelona.

On this occasion, the participation of not only a large number of local elected representatives from both regions, but also the involvement of the European Commission, through the Director of Latin America and the Caribbean, Relations with Overseas Countries and Territories, of the Directorate-General for International Associations, Félix Fernández-Shaw, is of particular relevance.

Some personalities have participated in the event, such as Gustavo Quintero Ardilade, Mayor of Bogotá, Céline Papin, Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux, France and representative of the Council of Municipalities and Regions of Europe, Rodrigo Neves, Mayor of Niteroi, Brazil and next president of the Mercociutats network; Eleonora Betancur González, Director General of the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation of Colombia (APC).

At the end of the event, mayors formally delivered the Forum Declaration to the representatives of CELAC and the European Union, with the aim of transmitting it to the Heads of State and Government during the EU-CELAC Santa Marta Summit to be held in the coming days. The aim is to strengthen political dialogue and institutional relations between local and regional authorities on both continents and promote the construction of decentralized cooperation alliances between the EU and CELAC.

In the context of this forum, the publication ‘Territorial Development and Decentralization in Latin America and the Caribbean: Comparative Study in 22 Countries’ was also presented, co-financed by the European Union and the Barcelona Provincial Council and the EU-LAC Decentralized Cooperation Observatory, which essentially concludes that against greater centralization of powers, there is less democracy and less defense of human rights, and presents around twenty specific cases of evidence of recentralization.

Promotion of public policies of peace in the Latin American region

Within the framework of the participation of the Barcelona Provincial Council and the Observatory of Decentralised Cooperation in this forum in Bogotá, the cities of Cali and Buenaventura were visited, in order to exchange experiences and analyze possible collaborations within the framework of decentralized cooperation, taking advantage of the fact that these two cities have public policies