European Union-Latin America High-Level Meeting on Security and Internal Affairs: Strengthening cooperation between the European Union and Latin America in the fight against organised crime
On May 30, a high-level meeting was held in Brussels, bringing together senior officials from the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI) and the member countries of the Latin American Committee on Internal Security (CLASI), a crucial forum for political and technical dialogue among Latin American countries’ security policymakers.
This meeting was attended by the European Commission, represented by its Directorates-General for International Partnerships, Justice, Migration and Home Affairs, the European External Action Service, the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments and European agencies specialising in the fight against organised crime such as EUROPOL, EUROJUST, the European Monitoring Centre for Combating Drugs and Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (Narcotics). In addition, the Police Community of America (AMERIPOL) joined the discussions.
Within the framework of strengthening the high-level strategic partnership between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean in the field of Justice and Security, this meeting reinforces the bi-regional mechanisms for political and technical dialogue developed through the Cooperation Programme by the European Union “PACCTO 2.0”.
The event was opened by the Belgian Presidency of the European Union and the pro tempore Presidency of CLASI, corresponding to Ecuador. Senior officials from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, as well as representatives of the 27 Member States of the European Union, participated in the dialogue, with interventions from Belgium, Spain, France, Poland and Hungary.
On the morning of the 30th, two thematic blocks were addressed: the fight against organized crime, drug trafficking and criminal networks. A key result of the meeting of the committees was the establishment of joint work procedures between COSI and CLASI, setting out the cycle of upcoming meetings to strengthen regional dialogue.
The afternoon session followed up on the EU-CLASI Joint Declaration adopted on 28 September 2023 at ministerial level under the Spanish Presidency of the Council, as well as the implementation of this Declaration. Other topics discussed included the response to organised crime through the EU Ports Alliance, trafficking in human beings, crypto platforms and the European Commission’s bi-regional cooperation tools (INTPA and FPI).
The meeting highlighted the importance of fostering synergies between the regions’ respective criminal threat assessment systems, SOCTA for the European Union and the new IDEAL 3.0., which will support operational action plans for the CLASI countries.
On 31 May, CLASI delegates were received by the Belgian interior minister, Annelies Verlinden, to visit the Port facilities of Antwerp-Bruges and met with the Belgian authorities involved in the fight of organised crime at Antwerp City Hall.
Cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries on justice and security is one of the priorities of the Belgian Presidency of the Council and was a commitment made during the last summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held in July 2023 in Brussels.
The EU-CELAC Summit agreed to strengthen the partnership on justice and security to address the common challenges posed by transnational organised crime, and proposed that this new framework of enhanced relations should be based on a regular high-level political dialogue to agree on priorities and joint actions.
David Jordens, spokesperson – woordvoerder – porte-parole
TEL: +32 478 92 09 37
EMAIL: david.jordens@diplobel.fed.be
Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Rue des Petits Carmes / Karmelietenstraat 15
Brussels 1000 – Belgium
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