Newsletter – n°31 – March 2015

News from partners

The Observatory of Decentralised Cooperation between the European Union and Latin America gathers global local and regional leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges. On March 24, the Observatory organised a conference in Brussels (Belgium), in the headquarters of the Committee of the Regions and with the support of PLATFORMA, to assess these past 10 years of decentralised cooperation between the European Union and Latin America. The sessions of the conference affirmed the richness and diversity of the facets of decentralised cooperation. The latter has surpassed the field of development cooperation to incorporate new aspects, such as the international scope of local and regional governments.

Moreover, participants defended the need to measure the real impacts of decentralised cooperation, by developing new indicators and reference frameworks. The sessions also highlighted the importance of new cooperation instruments that go beyond the traditional approaches of development projects.

At this occasion, Frédéric Vallier, Council of European Municipalities and Regions secretary general, recalled the essential role of decentralized cooperation within the regional program and thus recognized the role of networks in structuring the EU-Latin America relationships. During the conference our partners VNG International and Cités Unies Franceaslo shared their experiences on their innovative strategies and instruments of decentralized cooperation between EU and LA.  

The conference, organised by the Diputació of Barcelona (Spain) and the Municipal Council of Montevideo (Uruguay) in collaboration with the Committee of the Regions and PLATFORMA, brought together local and regional elected representatives from the European Union and Latin America, as well as European officials and representatives from local authorities’ associations.

What is the Observatory of Decentralised Cooperation EU and Latin America?

The Observatory of Decentralised Cooperation between EU and Latin America was founded in 2005 in the context of the URB-LA Programme through the participation of numerous institutions of both continents, a process led by the Diputació of Barcelona and the Municipal Council of Montevideo.

For further information please visit http://observ-ocd.org/es