European Commission Directorate General for Inte : Uruguay

Uruguay is an upper middle income country and its economy is largely based on agriculture and the state sector. Uruguay is considered as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, with its political and labour conditions being among the freest on the Latin American continent. Uruguay is progressing steadily in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Thanks to tailor-made public policies and favourable international conditions, the sustained growth of the Uruguayan economy (on average 6.4% from 2004 to 2011) was accompanied by a significant improvement in social indicators (poverty decreased from 40% in 2004 to 0.6% in 2011).

Due to its economic performance, Uruguay is considered as a 'graduated' country and therefore it is not eligible for bilateral cooperation under the financial exercise 2014-2020. Uruguay will remain eligible to participate in regional and thematic programmes. This provides an excellent opportunity to re-define together new forms of EU-Uruguay cooperation. The international cooperation between the EU and Uruguay is based on the Framework Agreement signed on 4 November 1991. There is a wide recognition of the significance of the EU cooperation at national and local level by all the concerned actors and sectors of the Uruguayan society.

EU Cooperation 2007-2013

Under the financial period 2007-2013 (€36 million) the two main focal sectors of EU assistance were social and territorial integration and innovation, research and economic development.

Regarding the thematic activities, Uruguay is benefitting from this support in a number of fields, such as economic and social development, human rights, poverty reduction, social cohesion, violence prevention, drugs and environmental protection.