Lula signs 13 agreements with Portugal and says Mercosur-EU relationship is close

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) signed 13 cooperation agreements with Portugal this Saturday (22) during his participation in the XIII Luso-Brazilian Summit, held in the Portuguese city of Belém as part of his visit to Europe, which began on Friday ( 21).

The agreements include cooperation in the areas of education, energy, mines, tourism, among others. In addition to signing the instruments, the president announced that the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brasil) is going to set up an office in Lisbon to promote the business of Brazilian companies in Portugal.

In addition to the signing of the agreements and the announcement about Apex Brasil, Lula stated that “few adjustments are needed” for the Mercosur partnership with the European Union to become effective. Cooperation between the two economic blocs has been stalled since last year, when the Europeans imposed restrictions on Brazilian products, mainly from areas supposedly targeted by deforestation.

“As far as it depends on me, we will make the European Union and Mercosur agreement. Small adjustments are missing and we are able to make them”, he said alongside Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

Lula also stated that he will work to try to conclude another agreement involving the European bloc and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), which will hold a meeting in July in Brussels. Brazil returned to the alliance this year.

“We are going to work to reorganize the unity of South America, because we want to prove that together we are a great economic bloc, we have much more chances of negotiating on equal terms with the European Union”, he concluded.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting between Lula and Costa also discussed issues related to investments and the participation of Brazilian companies in Portugal, such as the sale of Embraer aircraft to the government and the “high number of startups and companies of a technological nature companies” in the country, transforming business cooperation “in the digital domain as one of the main pillars of the current bilateral economic relationship”.

“They recognized the importance of a favorable fiscal framework for the development of trade and investment flows between both countries, having agreed to establish contacts at a technical level with a view to updating the said framework,” said the Itamaraty communiqué on the negotiation for avoid double taxation and contribute to the “creation of more favorable conditions for the promotion of mutual direct investment and the fight against fraud and tax evasion”.

Topics related to bilateral investments in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, new technologies, health, defense, space and the sea and oceans were also discussed. In addition to the agreements signed this Saturday (22), Lula will have a meeting with businessmen from the city of Porto, on Monday (24), where new cooperation should be signed for bilateral business.

Agreements between Brazil and Portugal

See which are the 13 agreements signed between Brazil and Portugal in this stage of the president’s trip (see in full):

• Concession of equivalence of studies in Brazil (primary and secondary education) and in Portugal (basic and secondary education);
• Witness protection;
• Creation of the Portuguese School of São Paulo;
• Understanding for the creation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms for the exchange of good practices in the promotion and defense of the rights of people with disabilities;
• Understanding in the field of Energy, with the exchange of knowledge and experiences in renewable energies and energy efficiency initiatives;
• Understanding in the field of Geology and Mines, also with the exchange of knowledge, experiences and attraction of investments for research and expansion of mineral production;
• Understanding to promote the mutual recognition of “Driving Titles”, that is, the permission for Brazilian citizens to have their driver’s license recognized in Portugal;
• Understanding for international cooperation between the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and the Portuguese Ministries of Health; Science, Technology and Higher Education; and Economy and the Sea in the biomedical area, for the development of “innovative products and services to improve the provision of health care to populations”;
• Protocol of cooperation between the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual, from Portugal, and the National Cinema Agency (Ancine), from Brazil, for the promotion of cinematographic co-production.
• Understanding for the cooperation and peaceful use of space, space sciences, technologies and applications;
• Declaration of intentions in the health area through the “Lisbon Charter”, with the guarantee of universal and equitable access to health and primary care; strengthening responses to public health emergencies and resilience of the two countries’ systems; increase the production of vaccines, medicines and related technologies; promoting healthy eating in sustainable food systems, among others;
• Understanding between the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion (Embratur) and Tourism de Portugal;
• It is a cooperation protocol between the Brazilian Communications Company (EBC) and the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

After his appointments in Portugal, Lula will travel to Spain on Tuesday (25th), where he should have meetings with businessmen, with King Filipe VI and with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The trip should last two days, and the official schedule is still being negotiated.

In addition to the trip to the Iberian countries, Lula should go to England, next week, to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III. The expectation is that meetings with English businessmen will also be held.