Download - FDCL

84
issues for us.” 233
On the other hand, the Uruguayan negotiators were at first reserved with respect
to the issues of public procurement in all negotiating agendas. Public procurement
does not form any part of the most recent bilateral investment treaty between Uruguay
and Mexico, but at least the agreement was made to negotiate on the issues
within two years after the conclusion of the treaty. With respect to the issue of investment
the four MERCOSUR negotiation partners could at least agree on the preliminary
desire, to give the negotiation of investment issues in the services area priority
within the WTO. 234
But it is one of the primary interests of the current MERCOSUR governments to
maintain and use a certain amount of space for possible national or regional designs,
a topic which is of special interest for the Brazilian government, which in its electoral
program of 2002 explicitly mentioned the necessity of a national scope for design
and decision with respect to national and regional development. The Brazilian president
Lula in his speech at the fiftieth anniversary of the Brazilian Oil company Petrobras
on October 3, 2003 emphasized the importance of such national performance
requirements for the issues of jobs, technology and overall development. 235
The Brazilian delegation for the WTO negotiations had traveled to Cancún – in
accordance with its MERCOSUR partners – without an explicit position on the issues
of investment and public procurement. But in the post-Cancún negotiation process
the Brazilian delegation took the following position: With respect to the investment
issue the Brazilian Lula-government, e.g., within the framework of the ALCA negotiations,
vehemently argues, just as it did at the EU-MERCOSUR ministerial conference
233 Own translation of the following original text: “Não queremos perder oportunidades de comércio. Não estamos
dispostos a aceitar uma fórmula que implique autolimitação na nossa perspectiva de acesso a mercados. Para
nós, comércio e investimentos são os temas centrais.” Taken from: Estado de São Paulo, November 18, 2003, p.
B3. Also see: Valor Econômico, November 18, 2003 “Uruguai quer focar investimentos.”
234 “Para serviços, o Mercosul continua a defender a aplicação das normas da OMC, incluída a exigência de que
o investidor tenha presença comercial no país receptor do investimento. Sobre compras governamentais só se
propõem regras de transparência, mas nenhum compromisso quanto à abertura para fornecedores estrangeiros.
Compras, investimentos e propriedade intelectual são temas que o Mercosul pretende deixar para a OMC.” Estado
de São Paulo, November 17, 2003. Own translation: “With respect to services, MERCOSUR continues to defend
the aplication of WTO norms, including the demand that the investor needs to have commercial presence in the
recipient country of the investment. Regarding government procurement, only transparency rules are proposed,
but no determination concerning market opening for foreign suppliers. Government procurement, investment and
intellectual property rights are issues which MERCOSUR wants to leave to the WTO.”
235 Íntegra do discurso de Lula na festa de 50 anos da Petrobras: “Nós não queríamos evitar que empresas estrangeiras
produzissem os nossos navios ou a nossa plataforma. O que nós queríamos era que o nosso dinheiro fosse gasto
dentro do Brasil, para gerar empregos para homens e mulheres brasileiros. E vamos manter a exigência mínima
de 65% de conteúdo nacional nos equipamentos destinados a prospecção marítima do petróleo brasileiro.” Taken
from: http://www.estadao.com.br/economia/noticias/2003/out/03/79.htm. Own translation: Full text of the speech
by Lula at the fiftieth anniversary of Petrobras: “We did not want to impede that foreign companies produce our
ships or our oil platform. We wanted our money to be spent within Brazil, to generate jobs for Brazilian men and
women. And we will maintain the minimum requirement of 65% of national content with respect to the equipment
destinated at offshore oil prospection of Brazilian oil.”