Strategy for Brazil 2007-2013 - Measures to reduce poverty and to improve the economic, political and environmental situation of the country.

Strategy for Brazil 2007-2013

The Strategy Paper for Brazil for the period 2007-2013 defines the objectives and action programmes for cooperation with the European Union (EU). Two cooperation priorities are identified on the basis of the country’s needs, i.e. to enhance relations between the EU and Brazil and to promote the environmental dimension of sustainable development. On the basis of these two priorities, the Strategy Paper presents the actions to be taken and the terms and conditions of their implementation. This paper therefore also constitutes a policy framework for the financial assistance.

ACT

European Commission – Brazil Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013 .

SUMMARY

This Country Strategy Paper (CSP) provides a strategic framework for cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Brazil for the period 2007-2013. It aims to support "soft" measures to reduce poverty and to improve the economic, political and environmental situation of the country.

Following an analysis of its situation, two cooperation priorities have been identified on the basis of Brazil’s requirements. The first priority is to stimulate exchanges, contacts and transfer of know-how between the EU and Brazil, with a view to improving social inclusion, achieving greater equality and improving mutual knowledge. The second priority consists of supporting projects to promote the environmental dimension of sustainable development.

Political, economic, social and environmental situation

Politically, Brazil is a stabilised democracy. A few challenges nevertheless remain, including putting together stable parliamentary majorities, strengthening the links between the three levels of government (Federal, State and municipal), fighting corruption and the unlawful use of public resources, improving the functioning of the judiciary system and the public administration, implementing the legislation in the field of human rights and combating violence, which is frequently associated with drug trafficking and social exclusion.

Economically, the country gives priority to macroeconomic stability. There has been a steep fall in the public debt, although this remains a source of vulnerability. Furthermore, private investment is hampered by high interest rates. On the other hand, the country has been very active on the external trade front.

Socially, the social and health indicators have improved. On the other hand, despite the progress made in access to education, there are still regional imbalances. In addition, wealth and income are very unequally distributed.

Brazil’s environment is one of the richest in the world. The country has to preserve the 6.5 million km² Amazon basin and to combat deforestation, climate change, degradation of the quality of the water resources and urban pollution.

Two major priority themes

The first priority is to enhance bilateral relations. The objective is to support initiatives in the framework of the EU-Brazil sectoral dialogues that could contribute to enhancing social inclusion and achieving greater equality. The resources will be used to develop the dialogues and finance activities leading to better governance and policy-making. Enhancing EU-Brazil relations also aims to encourage mutual understanding and to promote the EU’s image in Brazil through academic exchanges and the establishment of a European Studies Institute in Brazil.

The second priority aims to promote the environmental dimension of sustainable development. Due to the scale and wealth of its biomes, Brazil has a major role to play in global environmental issues. The cooperation resources are therefore allocated to sustainable development. To this end, the EU undertakes to assist Brazil to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to comply with its commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change (pdf) [FR ] and the Kyoto Protocol. The EU also supports the efforts to curb deforestation and to manage the natural resources in a sustainable way. Finally, there is a need to step up the fight against poverty in rural areas, which is both the cause and the consequence of the degradation of the natural resources.

Terms and conditions

A budget amounting to EUR 61 million has been earmarked under the financing instrument for development cooperation (DCI) to implement the CSP. The development cooperation strategy will be defined in two national indicative programmes (NIPs), one covering the period 2007-2010 (65 % of the resources) and the other for 2011-2013 (35 % of the resources). For the whole period 2007-2013, it is proposed that 70 % of the resources be allocated to enhancing bilateral relations and 30 % to promoting the environmental dimension.

The following actions are supported: facility to support sectoral dialogues; profile-raising activities through the media; participation of experts and representatives of civil society of the EU and Brazil; higher education programmes for Brazil (funding scholarships and exchange of teachers); establishment of a European Studies Institute; actions to secure access to land for the local population, fostering of non-polluting productive activities, increasing income and well-being.

Results are defined for the actions carried out under each priority. The actions relating to the objective ofenhancing bilateral relations must lead to: sectoral dialogues; enhanced cooperation between institutions, civil society organisations and stakeholders on each side; increase in the exchanges and inter-university partnerships; dissemination of information on the EU and development of European studies in Brazil.

The actions under the second priority on promoting the environmental dimension should lead to: reduction in annual deforestation rates; increased income for rural poor; implementation of land use strategies; better respect of the rule of law in forest areas; increase in sustainable production and creation of local value; improvement of the local management capacity for sustainable production; opening-up of new marketing channels and increased research for environmental activities.

Background

Cooperation between the two partners is a key objective of the EU. The EU is Brazil’s main trading partner and the country’s leading investor. For its part, Brazil is a regional player and is moving towards the international stage. The bilateral relations are based mainly on the EU-Brazil Framework Cooperation Agreement and cover a variety of fields.

The aim of this CSP is to continue the bilateral cooperation and the achievements under the CSP 2002-2006. These also come under the regional context of Mercosur (EU-Mercosur Framework Cooperation Agreement,Regional Strategy 2007-2013) and the Latin American Strategy 2007-2013.