Senior officials from the European Union and the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC) met in Montevideo on 8 and 9 September 2026 to review joint work on research and innovation.
More than 50 officials from 15 EU member states and 23 CELAC countries attended the 10th Senior Officials Meeting of the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation, according to a statement from the European Commission’s research and innovation department released on Thursday.
The meeting followed priorities set at the first EU – CELAC ministerial meeting on research and innovation, held in Brussels in September 2025.
It was hosted by Uruguay’s CELAC Pro Tempore Presidency and co-chaired by David González, Uruguay’s National Secretary for Science and Knowledge Valorisation, and Maria Cristina Russo, Deputy Director-General for Innovation, Prosperity and International Cooperation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.
Discussions focused on three thematic working groups created under a “New Agenda” for EU – CELAC cooperation: health; climate change, environmental sustainability and energy transition; and artificial intelligence in science.
The meeting also reviewed the work of the Research Infrastructures Working Group, which was established in 2017.
Funding and next steps
Open science, researchers’ mobility and innovation were among the areas discussed as continuing to be active parts of EU – CELAC cooperation, the Commission said.
Officials also discussed funding and agreed “practical steps” to strengthen support for the working groups’ action plans and to mobilise existing funding and investment opportunities.
Senior officials endorsed the meeting’s conclusions, reaffirming a commitment to continue cooperation in research and innovation and to help prepare for the next EU – CELAC ministerial meeting.
