The minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, demanded more swiftness in Congress for the approval of international agreements signed between Brazil and other countries. According to him, average processing time of those agreements can reach five years, especially in Legislative Power, “although it can take some time – approximately eight months – also in the Executive”.

That minister wants the Congress to approve the resolution bill (PRC 47/07), which waives the approval of international agreements by the House Floor. According to Amorim, 198 agreements are waiting for their approval by the Congress, from which 166 at the Chamber. His intention is that the procedure of those treaties be conclusive at the committee stage, and that they be not obligatorily voted by the House Floor, which would only manifest if there were appeals by the deputies.

“We wanted that the treaties be processed with more swiftness, such as other laws, since 95% of them are not polemic”, declared Amorim, in a public hearing at the Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense, on Wednesday (13). Deputy William Woo (PSDB-SP) declared that that subject will be discussed at the leaders’ meeting, scheduled for Thursday (14).

Reactions
That statement caused divergent reactions among opposition deputies of the House. Deputy Fernando Gabeira (PV-RJ), for instance, one of the authors of the request for the hearing, defended the minister’s proposal. “That suggestion is important for the solution of those problems mentioned in the agreements, and to our international relations, since some presidents from other countries come here and complain about agreements closed five or six years ago, which haven’t been ratified by Brazil yet”.

Deputy Raul Jungmann (PPS-PE), though, criticized that measure and considered it as unconstitutional. He said he will appeal to the Supreme Federal Court to impeach it. “Constitution says that some kinds of agreements should be homologated by the House Floor. Based on this, that proposal is openly unconstitutional and politically mistaken, since we need to give more attributions to the House Floor, and not restrict them”, he added.

Report - Rodrigo Bittar
Editing - Patricia Roedel/RX
Translation - Positive Idiomas Ltda