Welcome message from the Chair
I consider it an honour and a source of immense personal and political satisfaction to lead the European Parliament Delegation for relations with the Federative Republic of Brazil (D-BR) -- for Brazil is a friend, a country whose history and culture in many ways overlap with European history and culture and with which the European Union (EU) has one of its longest-standing diplomatic relationships, as formal diplomatic relations between the two partners have existed since the 1960s.
The Delegation proper meets either in Brussels or in Strasbourg, and we regularly hold meetings with our opposite numbers in the Brazilian Congress, for which the venue alternates between Brussels and Brasilia.
Bearing in mind that Brazil, the world's fifth largest country in terms of size and population and its eighth largest in economic terms, is a global player on the international stage, the EU-Brazil Strategic Partnership was established after the two parties had together held their First Summit, in July 2007.
This partnership encompasses several areas of common interest, including scientific research, the environment, climate change, sustainable energy, poverty alleviation, the Mercosur integration process, and stability and prosperity in Latin America. The European Union and Brazil continue to be major trading partners. The EU is Brazil's second largest trade partner (17.4 % of all exports - 2018 figures) while Brazil is the EU's 11th largest trade partner (1.6% of total EU trade - 2018 figures). Brazil is, moreover, the single biggest exporter of agricultural products to the EU.
The objective that D-BR is pursuing within this general context is twofold. Firstly, acting as the European legislative arm, it oversees the Joint Action Plan (established under the Strategic Partnership) and secondly it is seeking to build a strong, lasting, open, and warm interparliamentary relationship, based on our shared principles, which are in turn rooted in the centuries-old ties between Europeans and Brazilians. The keyword is cooperation. Cooperation between the two sides of the Atlantic. And it is cooperation that I intend to encourage with a view to meeting the challenges of the next decade.
José Manuel FERNANDES
The Delegation proper meets either in Brussels or in Strasbourg, and we regularly hold meetings with our opposite numbers in the Brazilian Congress, for which the venue alternates between Brussels and Brasilia.
Bearing in mind that Brazil, the world's fifth largest country in terms of size and population and its eighth largest in economic terms, is a global player on the international stage, the EU-Brazil Strategic Partnership was established after the two parties had together held their First Summit, in July 2007.
This partnership encompasses several areas of common interest, including scientific research, the environment, climate change, sustainable energy, poverty alleviation, the Mercosur integration process, and stability and prosperity in Latin America. The European Union and Brazil continue to be major trading partners. The EU is Brazil's second largest trade partner (17.4 % of all exports - 2018 figures) while Brazil is the EU's 11th largest trade partner (1.6% of total EU trade - 2018 figures). Brazil is, moreover, the single biggest exporter of agricultural products to the EU.
The objective that D-BR is pursuing within this general context is twofold. Firstly, acting as the European legislative arm, it oversees the Joint Action Plan (established under the Strategic Partnership) and secondly it is seeking to build a strong, lasting, open, and warm interparliamentary relationship, based on our shared principles, which are in turn rooted in the centuries-old ties between Europeans and Brazilians. The keyword is cooperation. Cooperation between the two sides of the Atlantic. And it is cooperation that I intend to encourage with a view to meeting the challenges of the next decade.
José Manuel FERNANDES