The first EU/Brazil Summit opens a new era in the relations of Europe with the South Atlantic and of Brazil with the European Continent. Portugal and Brazil have long shared a common view on the need to institutionalize a dialogue at its highest level, to enhance cooperation and to define action lines equally advantageous for the European Union and Brazil.

The global challenges societies and States face nowadays require an integrated network of cooperation mechanisms between the several geopolitical spaces and agents. Such articulation offers more promising perspectives if it is set on common values and principles. This is the objective of today’s Summit, which brings Brazil and the European Union together, in Lisbon, and focuses on a wide and ambitious Strategic Partnership.

Europe shares with Brazil a common reading on a wide spectrum of international scenery’s dominating issues. As we see it, the multilateral system must be put first, as legitimate regulatory force of the international tension situations and as stronger basis for conflict resolution and peace safeguarding. The partnership, which is now being created, will allow a better debate and resolution of possible differences that may exist between us.

Our ethical commitment with Democracy and the principles of the Rule of Law and of full compliance with the Human Rights facilitate our understanding towards the several crisis sceneries. It is our firm intention to cooperate, supported on the pertinent multilateral mechanisms, on public safety issues, such as combating of organised crime, illicit traffic or terrorist threats.

We are obliged to move forward, towards a new agenda of collective solidarity, to reduce the inequalities and to promote the sustained balance and development. Fight against poverty and social exclusion, cooperation in combating pandemics and improving world conscience on environment, on the optimization of energy resources and on the facing of the crisis caused by climate change are areas in which Brazil and the European Union share wide room for dialogue. It is up to us to guarantee that our action in the multilateral fora reflects and strengthens this common vision.

The European Union and Brazil, thanks to the historic and cultural bounds that attach them, may articulate triangular projects to help development aid and energy security in countries in need, specially in Africa. We will mainly act in the multilateral instances, able to articulate the indispensable resources to break the poverty cycles.

It will be equally important to bring partners from other regions in the world into this common work. Europe and Brazil must act as mobilising basis for a dialogue that can also involve the remaining IBA countries – India and South Africa – in the definition of this new solidarity agenda.

The new approach model between the European Union and Brazil, which is inaugurated today, favours stronger agility in the conclusion of inter-regional negotiations. The conclusion of the Mercosul/EU agreement, in particular, must be in the future our immediate priority. That doesn’t mean however that we shouldn’t go on investing on a more global understanding, which brings back to life the expectations laid on the Doha Cycle.

Confident we set for this first Summit, determined to put up an agenda towards the future – from the reinforcement of the multilateral cooperation mechanisms to the sustained development and fight against the calamities on wide areas of the world – able to contribute for a better solidarity, stability and prosperity on a global scale.

We are sketching a model of intensified cooperation which may, our differences considered, identify the immensity of what we have in common. With this step we give forward today, we enhance the friendship and dialogue bridge which has always brought both sides of the Atlantic together.

 

* Luis Inácio Lula da Silva is President of the Federative Republic of Brazil. José Sócrates, Portuguese Prime Minister, is President of the European Council in the 2nd Semester of 2007.


- Available at Diário de Notícias (Portugal) and Globo do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) -