European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) greets Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

The EU's new Global Gateway Investment Agenda was presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a round table meeting on the sidelines of the third summit of the EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which concluded on Tuesday.

Ms. Von der Leyen said Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe need to support each other more than ever in a world witnessing increasingly fierce competition and growing conflicts.

EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said the gathering could add momentum to negotiations between the EU and the MERCOSUR bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), who reached a provisional trade agreement which has been on hold since 2019 because of EU concerns about Amazon deforestation.