Building on longstanding historical, cultural, political, and economic ties between Brazil and the European Union, the strategic partnership established in 2007 provided the basis for a further strengthening and expanding of multilateral and bilateral cooperation between the two partners in a wide array of areas of shared interests. International cooperation now spans over economic development, technology and innovation, environment and climate action, as well as human rights and security. In all this, sustainability, economic and infrastructure development figure are key priorities.

The EU engages with Brazil in fostering the transition towards sustainable and inclusive development, in line with the Global Gateway Strategy (GG). The priority areas of the Global Gateway Investment Agenda for Brazil include energy transition, digital connectivity, multimodal transport and mobility, sustainable value chains and tropical forests. In this context, the EU collaborates closely with EU’s Member State Embassies associated financial institutions and private sector companies.

To promote the energy transition, the Global Gateway Investment Agenda (GGIA) in Brazil focuses on expanding renewable energy generation and distribution, and green hydrogen production.

Under the tropical forests and sustainable value chains theme, EU partners focus on promoting and leveraging investments in bio-economy, sustainable and traceable supply chains and land restoration.

Work on digital transformation covers industrial and business cooperation, cooperation on market regulation aspects associated to the digital economy and public procurement, academic and scientific cooperation, and cooperation on space technologies and services. Additional engagement in this theme includes expanding telecoms networks for digital access and inclusion in Amazonian and rural regions for improved education, health and social services.

Providing sustainable finance to foster this ecological transformation is an overarching, horizontal priority of EU cooperation with Brazil.

Furthermore, EU-Brazil cooperation action extends over social development, protection and inclusion, human rights and democracy, public security and justice.

In addition to bilateral cooperation, Brazil is a very important partner under regional cooperation, with active participation in regional programmes such as EUROsociAL+ for social cohesion; EUROCLIMA+, for climate cooperation; AL-INVEST Green, to support green transition towards a low carbon economy; AMAZON+, to prevent and combat deforestation; COPOLAD, for dialogue on drug policies; EL PAcCTO on citizen security; EUROFRONT on border management, and of course Erasmus+, for cooperation between higher education and vocational training institutions and mobility of scholars and students.

The EU also supports thematic projects to strengthen  Civil Society Organizations and  the EU programme for Human Rights and Democracy, which promotes human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law worldwide. Likewise,  EU-ECHO is a relevant actor in the provision of Humanitarian aid in emergencies but also disaster preparedness assistance.