The President of the European Parliament (EP), Roberta Metsola, underlined this Wednesday the shared trajectory of collaboration and defense of democracy of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), which is celebrating 20 years, and called on its members to "go even further", with special attention to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In a video message broadcast during the inaugural session of the assembly, which is taking place in Tenerife, Metsola pointed out that we must be "proud" of the work carried out, since economic relations between both shores of the Atlantic have been "deepened" and progress has been made in "numerous trade partnerships".
She recalled that "we have stood for democracy, freedom, human rights and international law, and we have made a great effort", highlighting the role of EuroLat as a political forum between the European Union and Latin America.
Along these lines, she emphasized that a "great effort" has been made in the area of infrastructure, digital transition and public health, and argued that now the challenge is to "shape the future of Artificial Intelligence in a democratic, innovative and humanity-centered way".
Metsola also pointed out that it is still possible to "improve" cooperation in areas such as energy, critical raw materials and the climate transition, with the aim of "making people's lives on both sides of the Atlantic a little easier, fairer, safer and more prosperous".
She also highlighted that both regions have known how to stand together "in difficult times", whether in the face of "devastating disasters" or in support of Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
Finally, she stressed that "our strength comes from our peoples, from human relationships and from the shared values that subsidize this relationship, my appeal to you is to continue with our cooperation, with the same commitment, motive and enthusiasm in the years to come", thus closing her intervention before the parliamentarians of EuroLat.