The EU for Brazil: a partner towards a ‘fairer’ globalization?

Article is part of a special issue ‘Beyond self-perception: the others’ view of the European Union’.

Abstract:

Since the early 1990s, Brazil and the European Union have come to realize that their commercial, economic and political synergies offer vast opportunities for cooperation that are worthy of further exploration. This article aims to develop a better understanding of the role of the EU as both a political and economic actor by providing an outline of how the EU’s image is perceived in Brazil. Elaborating upon existing data and analyses at the levels of political elites, public opinion and the print media, the article argues that while the EU is regarded both as an opportunity and a challenge, the former perception is more structurally grounded in Brazil’s public discourse. In addition, the article suggests that some of the crucial elements of the academic and self-representation of the Union as an international actor have produced similar depictions within Brazil. However, in this particular country study, the social–solidaristic themes typical of the EU’s self-representation appear much less relevant in shaping the EU’s image than part of the literature on the EU’s ‘international identity’ suggests.