In the margins of the Home Affairs Council meeting on 5 March 2025, EU ministers of home affairs met with their counterparts of the Latin American Committee on Internal Security (CLASI). CLASI is currently composed of 16 Latin American countries and is the EU’s privileged partner to enhance law enforcement cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean. It has been the third exchange at ministerial level since 2022 and 2023. The meeting focused on addressing common internal security threats, in particular as regards the fight against transnational serious and organised crime and illicit drug trafficking. EU and CLASI home affairs ministers agreed on a joint declaration and a roadmap to implement operational cooperation priorities in 2025-2026 (annexed to the joint declaration). The cooperation priorities include:

• Strengthen the exchange of information between law enforcement in both regions;
• Strengthen the sharing of information regarding drug trafficking;
• Develop actions against the most threatening criminal networks;
• Enhance cooperation of CLASI countries with key EU agencies from the justice and home affairs area;
• Assess continuously the security vulnerabilities of ports of both regions and the measures put in place to counter the infiltration of organised crime;
• Promote the implementation of the "follow the money" approach, targeting the economic infrastructure of organised crime.

The home affairs ministers of the EU and CLASI also agreed on an 18-month cycle of meetings at ministerial, institutional and senior officials’ level.