terça-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2008

UPDATE 1-Brazil, EU to prepare joint crisis position for G20

Mon Dec 22, 2008 5:00pm EST
(Recasts with new Sarkozy quotes, background)
By Stuart Grudgings
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, agreed on Monday to take a common EU-Brazil position to the next G20 summit dealing with the global financial crisis.
"We decided with President Lula that things must change and change profoundly," Sarkozy, the current president of the European Union, said in a speech at a two-day EU-Brazil summit in Rio de Janeiro.
"We decided to narrow our positions and arrive in London with a common vision, on the future role of the IMF, the system of management of financial institutions," he said. "We cannot allow a single financial institution to be uncontrolled or unsupervised."
Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy and diplomatic power, has been pressing for a bigger say in world affairs since the start of the financial crisis, saying the world needs a new system of decision-making that includes more countries.
France is eager for Europe to make its voice heard on the international stage, believing the financial crisis, which began in U.S. markets, has weakened the United States and provided the EU with an opportunity to boost its influence.
Sarkozy and Lula gave no details on proposals they would take to the London summit on April 2 and they did not take questions from reporters after their meeting, which was also attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Sarkozy, who is expected to sign a major defense cooperation deal with Lula on Tuesday, earlier backed Brazil's claim to a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, saying the country had a vital role to play in global decision-making during the financial crisis.
"I'm being honest when I say we need Brazil in world governance," he said. "I think we need Brazil as a permanent member of the Security Council."
Lula has made obtaining a permanent council seat for Brazil one his major foreign policy goals.

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