EU Aims To Drum Up Business In Brazil

On 15 and 16 December, European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani together with 25 European CEOs from all main industrial sectors will visit Brazil with the aim to foster business relation in times of crisis.

The EU delegation consists of representatives of European companies, industrial sector associations and horizontal business associations incorporating each a large number of industrial sectors, who between them represent 13 different nationalities (see below).

Before leaving Brussels Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Enterprises, said, “More cooperation between European and Brazilian companies could only be of mutual benefit. I am particularly glad to be here with 25 representatives of our industry. Acting together at European level we can build solid relations with the other economic players.”

During the visit VP Tajani will meet with the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, Palácio do Planalto and with Vice President Michel Tamer. VP Tajani will also meet during this trip with Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Aloisio Mercadante, Minister for Planning Miriam Melchior, and Minister for Industry Damata Pimentel. At a working lunch with CNI (National Confederation of Industry), Mr Tajani and several Brazilian ministers (i.e. energy, defence, transports, tourism, industrial innovation) will sign a Joint Declaration on the pilot experience to exchange around 100 young professionals between the Federative Republic of Brazil and Europe.

On 16 December VP Tajani will meet in Sao Paulo with Governor Geraldo Alckmin and he will participate in a conference on fostering the role of SMEs on both sides of the Atlantic.

Two letters of intent will be signed between VP Tajani and the Brazilian Government: one on SME policy and the other one on industrial innovation and clusters strategies.

The business delegation

The European companies present in the delegation employ 1.315.491 people and represent approximately 646 billion Euros in turnover, 60 billion above The Netherlands GDP.

The Industrial sectors associations present in the delegation represent 3,616 billion Euros, which equals roughly the GDP of France and the U.K. combined, employing 23,050,000 people. They include:

• CEFIC – European Chemical Industry Council – it represents 29,000 chemical companies of all sizes in Europe, which provide 1,2 million jobs and account for 21% of world chemicals production. CEFIC represents its members and interacts daily on their behalf with the EU, international institutions, non-governmental organisations, the international media and other stakeholders.
• EFPIA represents the pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe. Through its direct membership of 31 national associations and 38 leading pharmaceutical companies, EFPIA represents 2,000 companies committed to researching and developing new medicines to improve health and quality of life around the world. The pharmaceutical sector employs directly some 640,000 people in Europe including 115,000 working in R&D. Europe’s research-based pharmaceutical industry generates a substantial trade surplus, estimated at about €58,800 million in 2009, and has contributed significantly to reducing the European Union’s trade deficit in high-tech products. More than a quarter of the EU’s high-tech exports are pharmaceutical products.
• FOODDRINKEUROPE is a confederation of 26 national federations of the food industry, 26 industry associations and 19 major food and beverage groups operating in Europe. In total, over 310,000 European companies in the food sector are part of FOODDRINKEUROPE, representing the Europe’s largest manufacturing sector. Revenue: €954 billions – Employees: 4,2 millions.
• FIEC – represents, through its 33 national Member Federations from 29 European countries, the European interests of construction enterprises of all sizes, i.e. craftsmen, SMEs and “global players”, carrying out all forms of building and civil engineering activities. FIEC is the officially recognised Sectoral Social Partner in the European Sectoral Social Dialogue of the construction industry. The European Construction Industry, in 2010, had a turnover of approximately €1.200 billion, i.e. approximately 10% of GDP and around 52% of gross fixed capital formation. The sector counts roughly 3.1 million construction enterprises, of which 95% are SMEs with less than 20 workers. The total workforce amounts to 13.9 million and roughly 26 million workers depend directly or indirectly on the construction sector. The international (outside EU) turnover was around €72,5 billion.
• ECCIA is composed of the five major European luxury goods and creative industries organizations: Comité Colbert (France), Fondazione Altagamma (Italy), Walpole British Luxury (United Kingdom), Circulo Fortuny (Spain) and Meisterkreis – Deutsches Forum für Luxus (Germany). European Brands account for about 75% of the worldwide luxury market, with 17 of the world’s top 25 luxury firms hailing from the European Union. The personal luxury goods market is a key driver of growth for Europe accounting for more than €170 billion of the worldwide luxury goods consumption, in Europe, employing, in 2010, from 800,000 to 1 million people.
• ACEA is the main representative association and standards group of the automobile industry in the European Union, represents the interests of the sixteen European car, truck and bus manufacturers at EU level. Its members include: Toyota, BMW, Volkswagen Group, Volvo, Ford, DAF, Renault, Fiat Group, Scania AB, Porsche, Mercedes, PSA Peugeot Citroën, and MAN AG. From January 2012, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of the Fiat Group, will be president of ACEA. The automobile industry is key as a backbone of the EU economy: more than 12 million families depend on the sector for employment; ACEA members yearly invest €20 billion in R&D, 4% of turnover; net auto exports are worth €42.8 bn; vehicle taxes deliver € 381bn to governments – 3.5% of EU gross domestic product; and its technology and innovations shoulder development into many other sectors. Employees (EU27) 2007 2,3 million people – 7% of EU manufacturing industry. Turnover ACEA members (2008) – €536 billion and total vehicles produced (Worldwide 2010) – 77,6 million units.

The horizontal industrial associations present in the delegation represent each tens of thousands of companies over more 45 European Countries. These are:

• UEAPME who is an employer’s organisation representing the interests of European crafts, trades and SMEs at EU level. UEAPME is a recognized European Social Partner and acts on behalf of crafts and SMEs in the European Social Dialogue and in discussions with the EU institutions. It is a non-profit seeking and non-partisan organisation. As the European SME umbrella organisation, UEAPME incorporates 82 member organizations consisting of national cross-sectorial SME federations, European branch federations and other associate members, which support the SME family. Across the whole of Europe, UEAPME represents over 12 million enterprises with nearly 55 million employees.
• EUROCHAMBRES is the association of the European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, with over 2000 members representing over 20 million companies in 45 European countries. Over 93% of these are SMEs.
• BUSINESS EUROPE is the association that brings together over 41 national federations of businesses and represents 20 million European companies from 35 countries.
• BVMW – Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft – German association of Small and Medium Enterprises, together with its partner associations, the BVMW has over 150.000 members. With more than 220 branch offices in Germany and some 30 international agencies, it offers extensive services at local, regional and international level.