The Committee
on Foreign Affairs adopted an own-initiative report drafted by Maria Eleni KOPPA
(PES, EL) with a proposal for a European Parliament recommendation to the
Council on the EU-Brazil Strategic Partnership. It referred to the proposal
for a recommendation to the Council by Véronique De Keyser on behalf of the
PES Group on the Strategic Partnership, and made some recommendations to
Council, the main points of which are as follows:
- the
Strategic Partnership should form part of the bi-regional approach to
relations between the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean, which are the
basis of the Bi-Regional Strategic Association decided on at the
EU-Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) summits;
- it should
provide fresh impetus for the conclusion of the EU-Mercosur Association
Agreement;
- it should
provide real added value both in relation to the current Framework
Cooperation Agreement with Brazil, the current Framework Cooperation
Agreement with Mercosur and the future Association Agreement with
Mercosur;
- the focus of
its political agenda should include joint strategies to tackle global
challenges, including inter alia peace and security, democracy and human
rights, climate change, the financial crisis, biological diversity,
energy security, sustainable development and the fight against poverty
and exclusion;
- the partners
should seek to align their positions by means of systematic consultation
prior to UN meetings and those of other international bodies (e.g. the
World Trade Organization (WTO)) and fora (e.g. the G20);
- the
Strategic Partnership should be used to promote cooperation between the
partners in other international fora, such as the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and the G20;
- the partners
should demonstrate total commitment to the EU-LAC Mechanism on Drugs;
- the partners
should work closely to promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
and strengthen cooperation in the area of development aid, international
terrorism, drug trafficking and crime;
- emphasis
should be placed on the need to support the Brazilian government in its
efforts to tackle poverty, taking into account the fact that 65 % of the
poorest Brazilians are black or of mixed ethnicity, while 86 % of those
in the most privileged class are white;
- a
wide-ranging dialogue on migration should be set up, together with the
protection of the human rights of migrants and the facilitation of
remittances;
- the partners
should work together to advance discussions in international fora with a
view to concluding in 2009 a comprehensive post-2012 agreement on
climate change, based notably on the principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities;
- they should
strengthen international cooperation on the conservation of all types of
forests, including the Amazon rainforest, and exchange best practices;
- they should
develop low carbon energy technologies and ensure the sustainable
production and use of renewable energies, including sustainable biofuels
which do not affect the production of food crops and biodiversity;
- cooperation
in nuclear research should be strengthened so that Brazil may participate in the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor)
project on thermonuclear energy generation;
- Brazil's efforts to combat AIDS with low-cost medicines should be
supported;
- fresh
sectoral dialogues should be launched on several sectors e.g the
environment and sustainable development, energy, transport, food
security, and science and technology;
- the
Strategic Partnership should encourage contacts between civil society
organisations, business and social partners' fora, and should promote
exchanges on an educational and cultural level;
- actions in
favour of the EU-Brazil political partnership, mutual awareness and
understanding and exchange programmes should be financed from an
instrument other than the DCI;
- the
Strategic Partnership should provide for the establishment of a regular
structured dialogue between the Members of the Brazilian National
Congress and Members of the European Parliament;
- provision
should be made for the institutions of the EU and Brazil to provide the European Parliament and EuroLat with regular information on the state of play
of the Strategic Partnership.