Following institutional guidance to seek opportunities for cutting-edge knowledge and experiences, academic and applied, FGV opened its first representative office in Europe in March 2016. FGV Europe, therefore, was created as a way of bringing Brazil closer to other important nations and to place FGV even closer to the center of the great European think tanks.

The German city of Cologne was chosen as the ideal base for the project due to its strategic geographic location at the heart of Europe, and the historically established partnerships with important institutions in the public sector, the third sector and the local private sector.

The work developed by the unit encompasses promotion and participation in events, establishment of strategic partnerships with European public and private institutions, in addition to signing and developing technical assistance projects.