The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union | Global Dialogue office in Brussels is seeking proposals for the drafting of two commentaries (800-1200 words) on the implications of Brazil elections for EU-Brazil relations, one published before the elections, one after. Proposals should be submitted by Friday 7 August 2026, EOB.
On 4 October 2026, Brazil will hold general elections. The polls currently indicate incumbent President Lula da Silva to be ahead of other candidates, but potentially tied with Bolsonaro’s son in second round scenarios. After years of weakening of the EU-Brazil strategic partnership under Bolsonaro’s term, the victory of Lula da Silva in 2022 elections opened up opportunities for re-engagement in EU-Brazil relations. Progress has been made in terms of trade policy - notably, through the EU-Mercosur agreement signed in January 2026 – and further areas of cooperation include environmental protection, defence of democracy, and multilateral governance. Sustained cooperation revolved around a shared set of values, though frictions have persisted, for instance over Ukraine, Gaza and technical mechanisms such as CBAM and EUDR. The upcoming elections in Brazil hence casts new questions on how EU-Brazil relations will evolve in the future.
For further details on the article format, you can refer to our editorial guidelines: Editorial guidelines for online articles.
Timeline & budget
The first article is expected to be finalised by beginning of September 2026.
- Article 1 (pre-election): to be finalised by beginning of September 2026
- Article 2 (post-election): to be finalised by end of October / early November 2026 — allowing for coverage of the runoff on 25 October if the race goes to a second round.
The available budget for this project is up to 500 EUR (including VAT and all other costs, where applicable) per article, i.e. up to 1,000 EUR incl. VAT for both.
Applications
We welcome applications from researchers with a strong expertise in Brazil politics, EU-Brazil relations, international relations; experience in drafting political analysis/commentaries.
Please include (in one PDF document):
- a pitch (max. 200 words) outlining under which angle the electoral outcomes will be discussed as well as the dimensions of EU-Brazil relations that will be taken into consideration to analyse the potential impact of Brazil 2026 elections;
- 1-page CV (including references to previous relevant works)
Applications will be assessed based on relevance and quality of the proposed approach, demonstrated expertise and experience, quality of previous publications and work.
Please submit your proposal via email to Louise Mollenhauer (Louise.Mollenhauer [at] eu.boell.org) with the subject line "Application: Brazil 2026 elections and EU-Brazil relations".