Brussels, 23/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - The EU/Brazil Summit closed in Rio de Janeiro on Monday 22 December with the adoption of the roadmap to deepen the "strategic partnership" launched in 2007 and with a commitment on both sides to coordinate their positions ahead of the forthcoming G20 summit on the economic and financial crisis, due to be held in London on 2 April 2009. Europeans and Brazilians also agreed to take a joint initiative to relaunch negotiations at the WTO on the Doha Round. The Summit adopted a "joint declaration", which is available at the website of the Council: http: //http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/er/105021.pdf.
EU/Brazil strategic partnership. The roadmap (action plan) signed in Rio by Nicolas Sarkozy (President-in-exercise of the European Council), the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, includes details of the priority fields for bilateral cooperation over the next three years: international peace and security; economic, social and environmental cooperation; science, technology and innovation; regional cooperation; education and culture. "This partnership is the result of a convergence of interests, which goes beyond the positions we adopted in international fora", Mr Lula told the press. "At this point in time, which is characterised by such uncertainty and turbulence at a global level, we can work together on crucial issues for our countries and the international community", he stressed.
Financial and economic crisis. The EU and Brazil also agreed to work on a common position which they will both defend at the G20 Summit in London on 2 April 2009. "We are going to work flat out on the common priority of Brazil and the European Community, which is preparations for the Summit of London on 2 April", Nicolas Sarkozy told the press. "We have decided to pool our efforts to create the basis of a more balanced monetary system based on the major currencies of the world and we also hope to discuss and create the foundations for economic coordination, in order to set in place a global relaunch system along the lines of what Europe has done", said Mr Sarkozy. Europe and Brazil must speak with one voice in order to make these changes reality, stressed the president-in-exercise of the European Council. "We and President Lula are determined to put pressure on to see that things change (...). In order for them to change in depth, we have therefore decided to move our positions closer together and try to arrive in London with a common vision of the future role of the IMF, a common vision of the financial institutions surveillance system", he added. The first G20 Summit in Washington last November "showed that there is room for a concerted response" to the crisis, including the emerging countries, said Lula da Silva, who feels that the crisis is due to "shameless financial speculation". Today, "the time has come for politics" to reform the system, said the Brazilian President.
Doha Round. According to Mr Sarkozy, both sides agreed to prepare a common initiative for the WTO aiming to unblock the Doha Round (see other article). "It is now up to the Heads of State and Government to take their responsibilities" to break the deadlock on the Doha Round, said Mr Sarkozy. (H.B./trans.fl)