Brussels, 09/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - Representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Brazilian Council for Economic and Social Development (CDES) held their first ever EU-Brazil Civil Society Round Table from Monday 6 to Wednesday 8 July in Brussels. Two themes were on the agenda but, as EESC President Mario Sepi said, they were “not the easiest”, namely “social aspects of the economic crisis and sustainable development”. Mr Sepi nonetheless spoke of a number of “contradictions” between the positions of European and Brazilian civil society in this field, including on energy and environmental issues. Work on this point first of all consisted of exposing the points of view of the delegations and will seek to reach a convergence of views during the second round table scheduled to take place in Brasilia on 7 and 8 December this year. The draft final declaration adopted on Wednesday stipulates that the second meeting will focus on implementation of the international conventions on the environment and the world energy matrix. Welcoming the political commitment shown by Brazil and the EU in favour of renewable energies, it underlines the need to involve civil society organisations in the development of policies to implement that commitment.
The president of the Brazilian federation for industry and construction, Paulo Simão, said that civil society should make its voice heard in a context marked by deep economic crisis. Created in 2003 by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, the CDES bears privileged witness to the deep changes that have taken place in Brazil over the past few years. According to Mr Simão, his country has shown that it is better prepared to face up to the current crisis than during previous years thanks to its monetary reserves, banking, banking regulations and relevant fiscal politics and a recovery programme for infrastructure and housing. The CDES representative also said global answers should be found for global problems. When asked about the relevance of the G8 which met the same day in L'Aquila (Italy), he said that the G20 was “far more representative than the G8”. Sharing this point of view, Mr Sepi nonetheless regretted that financial, economic and social globalisation takes place without being accompanied by the creation of institutions to fashion it. The G20 must not be simply a forum of the G8 kind, he said. The EU/Brazil civil society round tables will be held twice annually. (M.B./transl.jl)