The third session of the Franco-Brazilian Bilateral Cooperation Commission, created by the cooperation framework-agreement of 28 May 1996, was held in Paris on 7 and 8 July 2003, under the chairmanship of M. Dominique de Villepin, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr Celso Amorim, Brazilian Minister for External Relations.

The discussions of the three subject-specific committees - 1) scientific and technical cooperation, 2) audiovisual, cultural and linguistic cooperation, and 3) trade - and political consultations allowed the two parties to gauge the quality and substantive nature of their bilateral relations and set the following objectives which the two governments pledge to pursue over the next few years:
1. France and Brazil are championing their shared vision of a multipolar world and are committed to multilateral management of the major international problems.

Recent conflict and post-conflict situations have confirmed the importance of the multilateral institutions' involvement in peace and international security issues. For this reason, the two parties stress the importance of the role of the United Nations, with one of its foremost responsibilities being the diplomatic resolution of conflict situations.

The two parties are intent on cooperating in order to safeguard and strengthen the United Nations' role in the resolution of international crises and peacekeeping. They support the reform and enlargement of the Security Council so as to increase its legitimacy and representativeness. In this respect, they recall France's support during the bilateral meeting in Paris in April 2003 for including in the reform of the Security Council Brazil's acquisition of a permanent seat.

Building on the Monterrey and Johannesburg summits, the two parties will apply themselves to coordinating their positions with a view to making headway on the major issues of world governance, particularly sustainable development and the fight against poverty.

A few weeks before the Cancun ministerial meeting, the two parties affirmed their shared determination to ensure that the multilateral trade negotiations produce balanced results so that the Doha Development Agenda objectives may be met.

The two parties noted the usefulness of the "broadened" dialogue between the G8 States and the major emerging countries, initiated on 1 June at the Evian Summit. They are keen for this dialogue to be pursued, particularly on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's proposal to create an international fund to combat hunger. The two parties pledge to establish a think-tank on this. They agreed on the urgency of the need to find solutions to the paucity of the resources needed to fight hunger and dire poverty.

The parties expressed the view that the globalization process has to take on board the need for the social inclusion of the poorest people.

The two parties are giving priority attention to the situation of the African continent and setting themselves the objective of helping it embark resolutely on the path of development and growth. They have decided to undertake triangular cooperation projects with African countries, particularly in the AIDS sphere.

The two parties will pursue their dialogue on the international financial architecture, especially on the prospects of reforming the crisis-prevention and resolution mechanisms.

They will apply themselves to harmonizing their positions on cultural diversity, particularly in the context of the ongoing discussions in UNESCO on the negotiation of an international convention on the issue.

The two parties agreed to develop regular cooperation on environmental matters, which will be the subject of a joint statement by the two ministers responsible for ecology, sustainable development and the environment.

2. France and Brazil will contribute to the development of every aspect of the strategic partnership between the European Union and Latin American countries decided on by the Rio de Janeiro (1999) and Madrid (May 2002) summits of heads of State.

In this respect, the two parties welcomed the important progress in the integration of Mercosur and South America and the prospects opened up by the European Union's enlargement and the work of the Convention. In this context, the parties stress the current efforts to encourage the physical integration of South America, which are at the same time creating the need for additional resources and investment opportunities. As a significant investor in South America, France expressed her interest in exploring new opportunities in the region. The two parties will pursue the programmes of academic, institutional and technical cooperation designed to strengthen Mercosur's regional integration process.

The two parties reaffirmed the strategic nature of the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement, which will make for a stronger political dialogue and increased economic exchanges and cooperation ventures. They pledged to support the positive momentum of the negotiating process, not just as a way of increasing mutual access to our markets, but also of maintaining the balance between the ongoing various processes.

This prospect is contributing to increasing bilateral trade and to the very substantial flow of French direct investment in Brazil, which the two parties will develop, while ensuring the stability of the legal and regulatory framework. In this context, the parties pledge to explore innovatory forms of agricultural cooperation, particularly in the sphere of public and plant health.

3. France and Brazil will strengthen their cooperation in order to consolidate the two countries' exchanges - at both institutional and human levels - and support the modernization of Brazil's economy and her social development.

The two parties will pursue the policy of scientific and technological partnership through the establishment of long-term relationships between the scientific institutions. They will pursue sectoral cooperation projects (Amazon research, social sciences, nanotechnology) and the programmes, focused on innovative technology, which are contributing to the modernization of Brazilian production facilities. The parties will redouble their efforts to take forward the present partnership in the aerospace field, whose potential should be strengthened still further.

The two parties will pay great attention to cooperation on administrative reform and will develop the exchanges between the two countries' public institutions and major civil service colleges, especially on the subjects of land development, public security and the fight against organized crime, interministerial action and strategic planning.

The two parties agreed to broaden the scope of the existing technical cooperation and implement some new projects to support the Brazilian government's social priorities in sectors such as sustainable family farming, basic public health, the social and mutually-supportive economy, essential urban services, pre-school education and the fight against illiteracy.

To promote cultural diversity and linguistic pluralism, the two parties will pursue their policy of cooperation between the major cultural institutions, particularly in the framework of the Brazil Season in France in 2005, with a view to facilitating exchanges between creative industry professionals, making each other's cultures more widely accessible, encouraging co-productions, training young people involved in the arts and the teaching of the Portuguese and French languages, in France and Brazil respectively.

The two parties agreed to establish a dialogue on the environment and sustainable development, with a view to discussing issues of common interest raised in multilateral negotiations and bilateral cooperation. In this context, they stressed the importance of the multilateral instruments in dealing with global environmental issues, especially when it comes to climate change. As for bilateral cooperation, the parties will step up their exchanges in the area of water resources, national parks, biodiversity and forests.

The two parties will pursue their cross-border cooperation, particularly on sustainable development and the training in and teaching of each other's languages, transport infrastructures (bridge over the Oyapock River [which separates French Guiana from Brazil]), drinking water and sanitation./.