Inter-parliamentary meetings

Members from the Delegation for the relations with Mercosur (DMER) and Delegation for the relations with the Federative Republic of Brazil (D-BR) travelled to Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro from 30 October to 2 November 2017.

The Members Group was led by both Chairmen: Mr Francisco Assis (DMER President, S&D, Portugal) and Mr Fernando Ruas (D-BR President, EPP, Portugal), and also included Xabier Benito Ziluaga (1st VP of DMER, GUE/NGL, Spain), Elisabetta Gardini (2nd VP of DMER, EPP, Italy), António Marinho e Pinto (1st VP of D-BR, ALDE, Portugal), Carlos Zorrinho (2nd VP of D-BR, S&D, Portugal), Clara Eugenia Aguilera García (S&D, Spain), Fabio Massimo Castaldo (EFDD, Italy), Pál Csáky (EPP, Slovakia), Nicola Danti (S&D, Italy), Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, Netherlands), Mireille D'Ornano (EFDD, France) and José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra (EPP, Spain, INTA rapporteur).

MEPs met in Brasilia with: Brazilian Executive Representatives (Ministers Blairo Maggi and Marcos Pereira), Congress Members (Senators Jorge Viana and João Capiberibe and Deputies Bruna Furlan, Celso Russomanno, Eduardo Barbosa, Paulão and Janet Capiberibe), EU Member State Ambassadors, business sector representatives (Industry Confederation), NGOs and civil society representatives (indigenous communities - FIAN, CIMI, Imagem da Vida, SIA - Observatório do clima, FGT, UFRJ and with coordinators of Project Micro Rainbow - promotion of human rights for population LGBTI).

In Rio de Janeiro, MEPs met with the Deputy Mayor, Mr. Fernando Mac Dowel; Mr. Jorge Picciani, President of RJ State Assembly and also visited one project financed by the EU (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation - Fiocruz).

Topics addressed included the state of the EU-Brasil relations (namely the negotiations on the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement), and the political and economic situation in Brazil and in the EU.

The Second EP-Brazil Inter-parliamentary Meeting (IPM) was held in Brussels on Thursday, 16 June 2016.

Delegates were welcomed by:

• Antônio Marinho e Pinto, 1st Vice-chair of the Delegation for relations with the Federative Republic of Brazil (D-BR),
• Eduardo Barbosa, President of the Brazil-EU friendship group.

The agenda included exchanges of views on:

• Health Systems in Europe, with:
  - Alojz Peterle, Co-Chair of the European Parliament's Health Working Group,
  - Peter Liese, member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI),
  - Jorge Pinto Antunes, Deputy Head of Unit, Performance of national health systems, DG SANTE, European Commission;
  
  
• the challenges of migrations, with:
  - Marie-Christine Vergiat, member of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and rapporteur for the Report on Migration in Third Countries,
  - Maria de la O Alvarez Lopez, DG HOME, HLWG on Asylum and Migration, European Commission,
  - Samuel Simon, Regional Policy & Programme Analyst, Regional Office for the EEA, the EU and NATO, International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The first inter-parliamentary meeting (IPM) held with MEPs and Brazilian legislators was undertaken by the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the Mercosur countries (DMER).

This meeting took place on 27-31 October 2013 in Brasilia and Recife and was led by the second Vice-Chair of DMER, Jean-Pierre AUD. More information, including the Chair's report, is available on the DMER website.

Until 2014, the European Parliament's relations with Brazil were channelled through the DMER delegation. In 2014, the Parliament established a separate delegation for relations with Brazil.