President Lula,
Thank you very much for the warm welcome, I am very glad to be here in Brasília. And indeed, President Lula, you brought Brazil back to where it belongs, as a major global player, a leader in the democratic world. And I am here to tell you that Europe is back, too. Europe is back in Brazil. Europe is back in Latin America. Our regions are not only natural partners, but they are also partners of choice. And it is time to take our strategic partnership to the next level.
Our partnership comes of course also with new investments. We discussed that in our bilateral talk. The European Union is already the top investor in the region. And I am very glad to announce that we will step up even further. Through Global Gateway, that is our international investment plan, the European Union will invest EUR 10 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean. And this is only the start. Because it will be complemented by private investments and by the contributions of our Member States.
We have discussed several topics. You mentioned them. I want to reflect on some of them. The first is indeed the global challenge on which we are joining forces which is the fight against climate change. President Lula, I told you that I heard your inspiring speech for the first time at COP27. I very much welcome your leadership on climate and in particular your leadership on biodiversity. We discussed the Amazon forest that is a wonder of nature. It is the green lung of our planet. And it is a key ally against global warming. We want to contribute EUR 20 million to the Amazon fund. Of course, our Member States will also contribute. We discussed your plan to end deforestation by 2030. This is great news for the world. And Europe is also your partner in this. Here too, we would like to support you because you have a big responsibility in stopping deforestation in the rainforest. So we want to support you with Global Gateway. We have a project together of EUR 430 million to fight deforestation and to indeed promote, which is so important, sustainable land use in the Amazon. I very much welcome Brazil’s bid to host COP30 in Belém. It will be a powerful message to bring the Climate Conference to the mouth of the Amazon.
Brazil is also a superpower in renewable energy. You are producing 87% of your electricity from renewable sources. If you take the overall energy, it is 50%. This is truly impressive and we can learn a lot from you. I am very pleased that we are launching today another Global Gateway flagship project. This is on hydrogen. With this, Europe will invest EUR 2 billion to support Brazil’s production of green hydrogen and to promote energy efficiency in your industry.
The second point we discussed, you mentioned it, is the digital transition. There too, we start from a very good basis. Global Gateway supports the new Digital Alliance between our regions. It finances, for example, the EllaLink fibre-optic cable, which is co-funded by Brazil. It is basically the digital bridge between our continents. And we also offer to work together on your plans for the digital transformation of Brazil’s agriculture and manufacturing. This is a field where we also want to join forces together.
The European Union and Brazil also share the same values in the digital world. We agreed that our rules on artificial intelligence or on data must put the rights of people first. And we know that disinformation is a threat to our societies and to our democracies. And we agreed to connect our efforts to counter it. So there is a lot we can do to succeed in our climate and digital transitions. For these transitions, we need critical raw materials. This is a third area where we can step up cooperation. We are launching a strategic partnership on critical raw materials between the European Union and Brazil. This will help to meet the rising demand in our continents and create good jobs here in Brazil.
My fourth point – it is very important; it was your first point – is trade and investment. We both believe that it is now the time to conclude the EU-MERCOSUL agreement. We have the ambition, the two of us, to get it done as soon as possible, the latest by the end of the year. I think there are huge advantages on both sides. The agreement will create the right conditions for investment to flow. It will support, as you call it, the reindustrialisation of Brazil. It will help integrate and strengthen our value chains and boost the competitiveness of our industries globally. And it will create good jobs in Brazil. We share the same vision of fighting climate change – as I just described – and on labour rights – we discussed it. And our common commitments in these areas will be embedded in the MERCOSUL agreement. So this trade agreement is more than a trade agreement, I see it as a long-term engagement, as a platform for dialogue. And indeed, we have sent a letter with an additional instrument. We are very much looking forward to your answer because it is our opening to listen to you, to listen what can be improved, to listen where we have to make a step towards each other so that we can indeed, by the end of the year, conclude the MERCOSUL agreement.
We are strategic partners, and we need to work together to address global challenges, this also includes Russia’s war on Ukraine. Because the impact of Russia’s war goes well beyond Ukraine’s border. It affects the global economy, from energy markets to food security. Brazil also felt it, with difficulty of supply of fertilisers, higher energy prices and inflation. But beyond that, this war is also a severe threat to the principles of international law and the UN Charter, which I know is so very dear to Brazil. It threatens the sovereignty that is enshrined in the UN Charter, and the territorial integrity of each country, also enshrined in the UN Charter. We appreciate Brazil’s very clear condemnation of this war in multilateral fora. Together with Ukraine, we want a just, comprehensive and lasting peace. The international community needs to address this challenge. We discussed the peace plans that are on the table, President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula that is on the table. And Brazil will have an important role to play as the upcoming G20 chair. You can count on our full support.
To conclude, I believe this is the beginning of a new era in the EU-Brazil relations. I look very much forward to welcoming you to Brussels. I hear that you have plans to travel. And of course, we are working very intensively for the EU-CELAC Summit.
For more information: EU-Brazil: Global Gateway project examples