European Union (EU)

At COP30, Europe’s climate leadership is at risk. Recent steps back on the Green Deal and new offset rules make it harder for the EU to convince others to be more ambitious.

Diversification strategies in green technology must be technology-specific rather than uniformly applied. Balancing openness with resilience will allow the EU to mitigate supply risks while leveraging China’s scale and innovation capacity.

To strenghten their joint leadership in global decarbonization, the EU and China should counter growing fragmentation by aligning clean tech supply chains, harmonizing standards, and advancing triangular cooperation with the Global South.

China’s industrial strategy follows a playbook of state-backed scaling, limited consolidation, and outbound expansion. To stay competitive, secure supply chains, and advance decarbonization, the EU should adopt a sector-specific approach to clean tech.

The dilemma between climate targets and economic security calls for a pragmatic and nuanced policy. A strategy of sectoral protectionism would allow the EU to manage the risks of its relationship with China while harnessing its benefits.

Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron have repeatedly announced their intention to prioritize European security and to take a more decisive stance against Russian aggression. Yet they have failed to follow through on these pledges. Europe now needs a defense union that is worthy of the name. 

Does the future of French agriculture lie in agroecology? Long shaped by a productivist model that has eroded jobs and destroyed biodiversity and the climate, farming must now preserve the environment while creating rewarding, sustainable employment. 

A potential U.S. force posture reduction in Europe will leave the continent vulnerable to further Russian aggression. Europe needs a bold action plan to mitigate capability gaps and ensure deterrence of Russia with limited U.S. involvement.

Europe and Canada can only protect their digital ecosystems against US interference if they start investing in tech sovereignty now.

Today, a united Europe no longer means everyone at the same time. On key issues such as defence, digitalisation, and key technologies, alliances of the willing are needed – both within and beyond the EU.