Economic Blocks Put Pressure on Politics

Brasilia - Former Portuguese minister, Mr. Mira Amaral, now vice-president of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos Bank, is one of the personalities present at the IV Plenary Session of the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, which began this Wednesday in Brasilia. In declarations made by telephone to PNN, Mira Amaral expressed his conviction as to the importance of this meeting. He considers that it can provide "a moment for analysing the relationships between these two economic blocks".

"An encounter like this provides a moment for us to analyse the relationships between these two economic blocks and focuses our attention on how to attain our objectives in conjunction with the political authorities of the numerous countries involved. Our objectives are to set up a privileged area of action in the European and Latin-American markets and, through concrete proposals, cooperate with the rest of the world", asserted the former minister.
 
The Mercosur European Union Business Forum (MEBF) is the initiative of the business communities involved and is aimed at increasing commercial relationships between the two blocks. Through plenary conferences, the private sector contributes to the search for solutions that will eliminate or reduce the obstacles to this process.

This year, the IV Plenary Session is being held in Brasilia. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, it will discuss topics including achievements and perspectives for negotiations between the UE and the Mercosur, access to markets, business facilitators, investments, services, cooperation in special projects, and others. This date is especially important because of the stage that negotiations are now in and because of the influence of the Cancún Round of Discussions, which strongly affects the process.

At the end of the forum, recommendations will be brought together in a single document and sent to the governments in each region. The objective is to contribute to the political negotiations in course for an agreement between Mercosur and EU with an eye to the formation of a future free-trade area.

History
 
This initiative arose during the Brazil-Germany Economic Congress in 1998 with the purpose of involving private enterprise in the discussions on the commercial relationships between Mercosur and the EU. Founded in 1999, on the occasion of the Summit Talks between the EU and the Americas and Mercosur, the Mercosur and European Union Business Forum (MEBF), ever since it was conceived, has been officially considered by the governments of both regions as a facilitator for organizations seeking proposals, suggestions and recommendations.
 
The development of the MEBF gave rise to three conferences: Rio de Janeiro (1999), Mainz (1999) and Madrid (2002). In addition, the Facilitating Negotiation Conference was held in Buenos Aires in 2001 and attended by approximately 300 businessmen and representatives of business organizations.

Currently the Forum has received a great deal of attention from negotiators and government authorities, as it is considered an event that contributes to the advance of  commercial relationships between the EU and Mercosur. The MEBF also strives to assure that business communities will always be informed of the results of negotiations, thus stimulating their active involvement in negotiation processes.

E. M.
(c) PNN - agencianoticias.com