EUROsociAL, a cooperation programme of the European Union with Latin America, has accompanied and supported a significant number of public policies impacting social cohesion over the past five years. Some of these policies were shared in the European Parliament by the Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation (DG DEVCO-EuropeAid) of the European Commission and by the Latin American institutions that led these policies. The second phase of EUROsociAL fostered progress in sustainable and inclusive tax systems, access to justice, social protection systems, and regional and inter-agency coordination in the fight against corruption, to mention some areas with outstanding and documented results.

The activity, held in one of the rooms near the main chamber of the European Parliament in the Belgian capital, also served for DG-DEVCO to share the third phase of this programme, which will be implemented under the name EUROsociAL+. The continuation of the programme will be focused on the sectors of governance, social policies, finances, and the new gender line, building on the work of the second phase.

As the host, the welcome was in the hands of Tomasz Poreba, First Vice Chair of the Delegation of the European Parliament in the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), who presented Jolita Butkeviciene, Director for Cooperation with Latin-America and the Caribbean of DG DEVCO, to give the opening speech. Butkeviciene spoke of combating inequality and reducing gaps between social strata in Latin America, and the contribution of programmes like EUROsociAL through their support in facing these regional challenges.

Afterwards, there was a period of presentations opened by Mario Cimoli, Director of the Division of Production, Productivity and Management of ECLAC (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), regarding the socio-economic situation of the Latin American continent; and Marc Litvine, Section Chief for Regional Programmes with Latin America and the Caribbean of DG DEVCO, regarding EUROsociAL's results and launch of the new phase.

The informational session involved a more interactive tone, with the dialogue on EUROsociAL moderated by Clarisa Hardy, of the programme's Steering Committee, and with the participation of the four protagonists of the programme in the implementation of its lines of work: José Luis Santamaría, Council for Transparency (Chile), in governance and transparency; Héctor Cárdenas, Minister of Social Development (Paraguay), on social policies; Stella Maris Martínez, Public Defender of the Nation (Argentina), on access to justice; and José de la Mata, Spanish magistrate and member of the EUROsociAL Steering Committee, on the fight against corruption.

Putting the finishing touch on the EUROsociAL session in the European Parliament was Ramón Jáuregui, Co-Chair of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, who stressed the need for Europe to keep looking at Latin America, as it does with programmes like EUROsociAL.

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