CELAC-EU Senior Officials Meeting (JIRI-SOM) in Montevideo, Uruguay; Commitment to deepen bi-regional R&I cooperation
10th CELAC-EU Joint Initiative on Research and Innovation and Senior Officials Meeting advances bi-regional cooperation in research and innovation
Publication date: 10 September 2026
On 8 and 9 September 2026, the 10th CELAC-EU Senior Officials Meeting of the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation (JIRI-SOM) took place in Montevideo, Uruguay.
More than 50 Senior Officials from 15 EU Member States and 23 CELAC Countries took part in the meeting, building on the commitments and priorities agreed at the first EU-CELAC Ministerial Meeting on Research and Innovation, held in Brussels in September 2025.
The Meeting provided an opportunity to review the progress in the bi-regional cooperation on research and innovation and to discuss shared priorities ahead of the next EU-CELAC Ministerial Meeting.
The meeting was hosted by the Uruguayan CELAC Pro Tempore Presidency (Community of Latin America and Caribbean States) and was co-chaired by David González, National Secretary for Science and Knowledge Valorization of Uruguay, and Maria Cristina Russo, Deputy Director-General for Innovation, Prosperity and International Cooperation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD).
Particular attention was given to the three new thematic Working Groups established under the New Agenda for EU-CELAC Cooperation in Research and Innovation: Health; Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability and Energy Transition; and Artificial Intelligence in Science. The work of the existing Research Infrastructures Working Group, established in 2017, was also reviewed.
Key areas of bi-regional cooperation were discussed including open science, researchers’ mobility and innovation, which continue to be among the most active areas of EU-CELAC cooperation in research and innovation.
Funding was also an important part of the discussions. Senior Officials agreed on practical steps towards strengthening support for the implementation of the Working Groups’ Action Plans and mobilising available funding and investment opportunities to support joint priorities. The discussions underlined the need to ensure that the ambitions set out in the New Agenda are matched by appropriate resources and concrete opportunities for cooperation.
Senior Officials endorsed the Conclusions of the Meeting , reaffirming the commitment of the European Union and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to continue deepening their long-standing cooperation in research and innovation, and to help guide the next steps in bi-regional cooperation, and contribute to preparations for the forthcoming CELAC-EU Ministerial Meeting.
Conclusions of the 10th Senior Officials Meeting