Mercosur/EU Forum: Mira Amaral wants Brazil to negotiate investment protection

Divulgação Brasília, Oct 29 (Lusa) - The vice-president of the General Deposit Bank (Caixa Geral de Depósitos, CGD), Luís Mira Amaral, defended, today, the need for Brazil to renegotiate the foreign investment protection agreements that were removed from the National Congress at the end of last year.

"It is also in Brazil's interest for there to be all of the conditions in order for the European investments to come to the country. We hope Brazil will honor its commitments," said Mira Amaral to the Agência Lusa, who is representing the Portuguese Industrial Association (PIA) in the Mercosur-European Union Business Union, being held in Brasília through Friday.

Among the agreements removed from the Congress are those signed with Portugal, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, while those from the Netherlands, Belgium-Luxemburg, Finland and Italy were never even analyzed.
Former minister Mira Amaral said that in this edition of the Mercosur-EU Business forum there was a regression in relation to that which was achieved in the last meeting held between the two block's executives in Madrid, last year.
"There is a delay in several dossiers (such as governmental procurement), because there is an attempt by the Mercosur to connect all of the issues to the agricultural markets," he claimed.

Mira Amaral admitted the Mercosur is correct in the agricultural negotiations, but he considered that the South American block "must make clear and unequivocal proposals on this issue and wait for the European Union's reaction."
The president of Portugal Telecom in Brazil, Eduardo Correia de Matos, also said that the "Mercosur is completely right" in the negotiations regarding the access of agricultural products to the European market.

Correia de Matos defended, however, that the executives should put more pressure on the authorities in order for the two blocks to speed-up the negotiations.

"If we said we wanted to do business and that, therefore, it is necessary to solve the matter, this would be a way to pressure the two sides to solve the difficult dossiers. The problem is that the Business Forum ended up being contaminated by the political positions, said Eduardo Correia de Matos to the Agência Lusa.

To the president of the PT in Brazil, the MEBF meeting in Madrid had a positive impact, but this will only concretize if the Mercosur and EU executives take-on an independent position, without being conditioned to the political aspects.
CMC/GCS