Brazil joined assignees to the EU’s Digital Partnerships Initiative, the fifth country to come onboard following agreements signed with Japan, Canada, South Korea and Singapore. All have committed to joint research programs on quantum technologies and semiconductors.
The new bilateral partnership has as its focus areas the progress towards resilient global supply chains, thereby furthering an “inclusive, rules-based system of global governance”, according to Mobile World Live which reported on the story. It is speculated that deepening these relationships will help the EU detach from any dependency on US tech supply chains.
EU Insider reported back in June 6 2025 that “the strategy makes no reference to additional meetings with the United States under the EU-US Trade and Technology Council. The TTC, established in 2020 during US President Donald Trump’s first term, was created to de-escalate trade and technology tensions between the EU and the US.”
The latest agreement expands on a prior concordance made in January to work together on data sharing after it was found their security levels were on par with each other. This enabled businesses, public authorities and researchers to exchange data unhampered by additional controls between Brazil and the EU.
The most recent accord reached, according to comments cited by Reuters, which quoted Henna Virkkunen, EVP at the European Commission, was the natural progression of its alliance-building initiative to ensure overseas supply chains for chip manufacturing and cloud computing – she iterated the partnership was because “Brazil is committed to open markets, to secure technologies, also to a rule-based order.”
A meeting of the Digital Partnership Council will be held in the ensuing 12 months, furnishing blueprints for strategy direction and common goals to work toward, part of its effort “to increase cooperation between the EU and compatible countries, fostering a safe, fair, inclusive and equal digital space and create a set of standards that can be used globally,” according to the EU’s digital strategy outline.
(See Digital partnerships | Shaping Europe’s digital future for more detail on individual bilateral agreements)
This is on top of the pre-existing Global Gateway Initative, which has at its aim combatting China’s hegemony in infrastructure investment by joint financing arrangements for “secure submarine cables, AI factories, and digital public infrastructure in Africa, Asia and Latin America.”
The Digital Partnerships’ other common goals include:
- interoperable electronic identification (eID) and digital identity systems
- collaboration in data and platform economy
- cyber security
- high-performance computing
- 5G and network connectivity
- digital skills for workers
- the digital transformation of businesses and public services.
“In keeping with the Digital Compass Strategy, which aims to make Europe a digitally connected continent by 2030, the EU had committed to building strong partnerships using the four pillars of the Digital Compass – skills, infrastructures, transformation of business and of public services.
The International Digital Strategy reinforced this approach, placing an emphasis on deepening existing partnerships to strengthen international digital cooperation.”
The 4th EU-Japan Partnership Council was held on 5 May 2026, with new deliverables to include a joint decision to increase cooperation on regulatory oversight of content moderation systems; and the application of a reporting framework regarding illegal content and rights-infringing information. The EU also committed to expand in other areas “including on video games and audiovisual strategies.”
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