Brussels, 04/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - How things change! The countries that have recently emerged on the international scene now come to Brussels to express their solidarity with Europeans bogged down in crisis, and to provide counselling to help them address the matter. On Tuesday 4 October, after the 5th EU-Brazil summit, the president of the Republic of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, sounded the alarm, saying an economic policy focused on austerity is not enough to resolve the economic and financial crisis in Europe, which is a threat to the global economy. “History shows us that we will only be able to exit the crisis through stimulus to economic growth, coupled with macroeconomic stability policies as well as social policies aimed at creating jobs and income”, she told the press. Based on the experience of her own country, she said “simply adopting fiscal adjustments is not enough”, as the recession, e.g. currently experienced by Greece and Portugal, is leading to a fall in the level of production, to greater unemployment and to social inequality.
The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, assured Brazil of the EU's determination to act forcefully in order to face up to the tension on the sovereign debt markets and strengthen the foundations of economic and monetary union beyond what has already been decided. The European Council on 17-18 October will be a major milestone along that road, he promised.
G20. The EU-Brazil summit mainly allowed partners to exchange views on the items on the agenda of the next G20 summit scheduled for 3 and 4 November in Cannes. Rousseff called for “concerted action” at international level in order to prevent a global recession from reoccurring, after the fashion of the call made by the G20 at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. In her view, the lack of effective regulation for the financial system is one of the main reasons for the crisis. European Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso considers, for his part, that the stances taken by the EU and Brazil are “very similar”. Europeans and Brazilians, he said, could well work together to convince their partners to tax financial transactions.
Speaking on the situation in Syria, Van Rompuy drew the attention of Brazil, which has a temporary seat at the United Nations Security Council, to the need for the Security Council to adopt a robust resolution to show that the world will not tolerate the Syrian regime's unacceptable violence.
A bilateral agreement for liberalisation of air transport, for which talks had ended in March (see EUROPE 10341), should have been signed at the summit - but this did not happen. Brazilians called for more time to settle a number of legal issues. Other cooperation agreements were signed, such as a four-year agreement aimed at promoting cultural heritage and diversity. Barroso said they had also discussed the “Science without Borders” initiative of Dilma Rousseff, which aims to extend study opportunities in Europe to Brazilian students.
New three-year action plan. On the economic front, Europeans and Brazilians have adopted a joint action plan for the 2012-2014 period. There should be further cooperation, including the setting up of dialogue on civilian space exploration, alongside cooperation that already exists in no fewer than 20 sectors. “This plan will: (1) promote greater convergence between the European Union and Brazil on key issues such as climate change, science, technology and research, and small and medium-sized enterprises; and (2) strengthen our political dialogue by opening it up to new areas of mutual interest”, President Barroso commented. “My hope is that, within three years, we will be able to develop a true political partnership to complement our trade and economic relations”, Van Rompuy put in.
Ahead of a further session of talks from 7 to 11 November in Montevideo, the parties also took stock of talks on an association agreement between the EU and Mercosur, the South American economic bloc comprising Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay alongside Brazil. European and Brazilian leaders were wary not to judge the state of progress of discussions that have slowed down in 2011. Although there has been talk of progress in the corridors, the exchange of offers regarding access, which was initially expected in the spring, is still pending. “We are both convinced that the EU and Mercosur can generate extraordinary political and economic gains for our two regions”, Barroso commented, recalling however that, with €132 billion investment in Brazil, the EU is the largest investor in that country, far ahead of China, India and Russia together. (MB/EH/transl.jl)