Representatives from the European Union and Chile renewed cooperation ties in the areas of education, innovation and social cohesion during a meeting of the EU-Chile Association Council in Brussels, Belgium on 24 July.

The EU has earmarked a total of €41 million for this new six-year cooperation programme, which aims to stimulate the future economic and social development of Chile. The sum is expected to be matched by a similar contribution from Chile.

The agreement was signed by Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and the Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister, Alejandro Foxley.

Under the agreement, both parties will work together to develop mutually beneficial activities in three key areas: education, innovation and competitiveness and social cohesion.

In the area of higher education, the aim is to intensify academic exchanges through the creation of EU studies centres and to provide Chilean postgraduates with access to scholarships to EU institutions through the Erasmus Mundus programme. It is believed that these links will provide invaluable networking opportunities to the next generation of Chilean academics and policy-makers.

Another key priority is the promotion of innovation and competitiveness in Chile. Here, the agreement points to the need to encourage greater science and technology (S&T) links between the country's universities and industry and to develop activities to promote innovation and technology transfer.

The agreement also provides a framework to establish permanent links between S&T communities in the EU and Chile. However it notes that all cooperation activities developed in this area should be coherent and complementary to the activities already undertaken in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). A coordination mechanism which could be promoted under FP7 is the S&T Promotion Platforms which were set up in 2005 with Latin American countries on specific topics (Chile on health, Argentina on biotechnologies, Mexico on energy, and Brazil on environment).

Finally, on social cohesion, the aim will be to design public polices that can achieve fairer social and fiscal redistribution and improve access to health care, employment and social protection. The policies will also aim to reduce gender, ethnic and regional inequalities.

EU relations with Chile

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