05/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU-Brazil, businesses believe in strategic partnership. On the sidelines of the EU-Brazil summit of 4 October, the European business associations BusinessEurope and Eurochambres, and their Brazilian counterpart CNI, agreed on an ambitious agenda to promote trade and investment between the two economies. This can be achieved, they feel, by means of strengthened cooperation in the vital areas of innovation, finance, investment, energy and climate change. Reiterating the importance of the strategic partnership launched in 2007, representatives of the business worlds of the two regions issued a joint declaration laying down their recommendations for the new action plan 2012-2014, which will govern bilateral economic relations in more than 20 sectors. The plan lays emphasis on removing non-tariff barriers, promoting stable regulatory frameworks at sectorial level, and innovation. Lastly, businesses of both regions urge for the conclusion of a free-trade agreement with Mercosur. (EH/transl.fl)