A new policy brief by Christian Hanelt & Celine Plöger shows how diverging national positions weaken EU action in MENA. Recommendations: ➡️ Stronger EU Special Representatives ➡️ CSDP as core delivery tool ➡️ Align economic instruments ➡️ More flexible decision-making bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

Our latest newsletter is out today! In it are: 💶 A guide to the EU Budget for 2028-2034 🛡️ Mapping Europe's civil resilience initiatives 💼 A quick look at the "EU Inc." proposal And more! Read it here: www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/bst-europ...

Europe is facing an increasingly complex risk environment. This mapping by Lena Schmalhorst & @heqs.bsky.social highlights a variety of civil, community- and citizen-led initiatives that strengthen societal preparedness across Europe. bst-europe.eu/security-pol...

Europe is a digital rule-setter, but not yet digitally sovereign. To reduce dependencies (cloud, chips, AI), the EU needs strategic partners. India could be one, argues Murali Nair, saying sovereignty in tech can be built through cooperation, not isolation. bst-europe.eu/competitiven...

You have heard a lot about the EU‘s next long-term budget a.k.a. The MFF but were never quite sure what it is and how it works? @annaheckhausen.bsky.social and I have just the right thing for you: a comprehensive guide to the MFF and the upcoming negotiations on it 👇 bst-europe.eu/investitione...

Tomorrow, EU leaders gather in Brussels for another #EUCO summit - and the EU’s next seven-year budget is back on the table. @lucasguttenberg.bsky.social and I wrote a guide to the #MFF. Here are five battlegrounds in the negotiations that will shape EU action for years to come. 1/9

Was kommt nach dem Zollurteil des Supreme Court auf die EU zu? Deals sind allenfalls Risikomanagement. Die Aufgaben für die EU: geoökonomisch glaubwürdig werden, sich nicht von Dritten ausspielen lassen, Abhängigkeiten abbauen. Heute in @faznet.bsky.social Weltwirtschaft: www.faz.net/pro/weltwirt...

The upcoming 28th regime will likely simplify incorporation in Europe, but this alone won’t fix Europe’s scaling gap. In my new policy brief, I argue the Commission should add regulatory pilots to test rules in high-impact policy areas where reform has stalled: bst-europe.eu/de/wettbewer... 1/

Ahead of tomorrow's #COMPET, here’s the ECF debate in a nutshell. @lucas-res-car.bsky.social and I share 7 recommendations for a fund that delivers: strategically focused, flexible, and well-governed.

Unser vollständiges Papier zu Handelsmaßnahmen, Investitionen und Regulatorik gibt es hier bst-europe.eu/competitiven... - mit @lucas-res-car.bsky.social @elisabettaco.bsky.social @ph-jaeg.bsky.social @bst-europe.bsky.social @delorsberlin.bsky.social @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social 5/

Auch industriepolitisch fatal: Wärmepumpen sind eine der Branchen, in denen Deutschland auch in Zukunft global wettbewerbsfähig sein könnte. Das wird aber nicht gehen, wenn es den heimischen Markt versenkt. Wir haben letztes Jahr untersucht, was Trumps Politik für Clean Tech aus der EU bedeutet:🧵

🚨 New Policy Brief on the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) from @lucas-res-car.bsky.social and @annaheckhausen.bsky.social. Check out the full text below: bst-europe.eu/competitiven...

1/Today at #COMPET, EU ministers debate the European Competitiveness Fund. As negotiations on the 2028–2034 MFF intensify, we published a new policy brief analysing the proposal and set out 7 recommendations on how to make the ECF work Authored with @annaheckhausen.bsky.social

𝗞𝗮𝗻𝘇𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮: Friedrich Merz reist am 24. Februar 2026 nach China – am vierten Jahrestag der russischen Vollinvasion in der Ukraine. /1 🧵 www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/unsere-pr... @bertelsmannst.bsky.social @bst-europe.bsky.social

Another middle power moment, but not groundbreaking: EU-CPTPP have a lot in common and there's scope for closer cooperation. Fundamental limitations are still there, and it certainly won't be an 'anti-Trump trade alliance'. Why and what still can be done 🧵

The idea to unblock the Single Market deepening agenda with a multi-speed approach a.k.a. Enhanced Cooperation seems extremely weird to me both in principle and politically especially if the goal is "One Market". Here is why:

Six Scenarios for 2035 and How the EU Can Prepare for Them This new policy brief by @corajungbluth.bsky.social & Anika Laudien lays out priorities to prepare for the future: effective decision-making, credible deterrence, strategic resilience & social sustainability. bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

When EU leaders meet tomorrow to discuss the EU’s competitiveness agenda, they should stop chasing ghosts and confront the real problem Europe‘s economy is facing. Our latest for @politico.eu with @nilsredeker.bsky.social and @sandertordoir.bsky.social 👇

Politik sollte groß und kreativ denken und handeln - vor allem aber liefern. Mitgliedschaft 2027 für die Ukraine, “light” mit vielen Unbekannten, halte ich dennoch für das falsche Signal an die politische Führung in Kyjiw, neben den im Artikel genannten Auswirkungen für die EU und andere Kandidaten.

Europe's space goals face 3 tensions: Sovereignty vs speed, innovation vs regulation, ecosystem design vs investment choices. New policy brief by @schuetzt.bsky.social argues for: 💡Dual-track procurement 💡Stronger commercialisation 💡Targeted “buy European” tools bst-europe.eu/security-pol...

Lucas' take on why Macron was right to focus on the threat posed by China to the European economy, especially industry 👇

Big weeks for EU trade – MERCOSUR signed but in a limbo, India concluded, deepening with Mexico waiting to be signed, more in the pipeline. It’s also a good moment to look at the bigger picture: More trade agreements are worth doing in a power-based world, but they’re no game changer for EU growth.🧵

“Coalitions of the willing” are back in vogue. Internationally, that makes sense. But in the EU context, I don’t buy the hype. In fact, it leads to the wrong conclusions and risks weakening the one institutional framework that actually gives Europe collective power in a world without rules. Thread:

It's been a busy January! Read our latest newsletter with recap of the last couple of weeks by @dschwarzer.bsky.social, along with highlights from our experts on topics including: 🚀Space economy 🌡️ETS2 carbon pricing 🏭Industrial accelerator act and more ➡️ www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/bst-europ...

A new study on Ukraine's EU path looks at where Member State resistance persists, how veto power shapes the process, & what could build the needed political will. Read the study by @miriamkosmehl.bsky.social, @simonschlegel.bsky.social & Susan Stewart @swp-berlin.org bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

Good trade news! There's not a whole lot of detail out now besides some flashy tariff lines (cars, pharma, agri et al). The two sides had to move quite a bit to make this happen, both on substance and negotiating styles. No economic game-changer, but an important step geoeconomically.

New study! @schwabvonpostel.eu & Sara Hagemann show how ETS2, in effect for heating & transport from 2028, will add about €60/yr to heating bills for half of EU households. Social Climate Plans could be necessary, but heating must also shift away from fossil fuels. 📖 bst-europe.eu/investment-b...

🚨New study by @schwabvonpostel.eu & Sara Hagemann on ETS2 carbon pricing's impact on heating costs👇

1/ The Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) leaked yesterday. The draft is still very raw: major provisions are missing, placeholders run throughout, and key annexes are empty or absent. This is clearly not the final word ahead of its presentation on 29 Jan – more below.

How should the EU react to Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland? Get out of self-deterrence, launch the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) and focus on concrete levers instead of the next abstract tools debate. This is an explainer how this could work: 1/ 🧵

Yesterday, our first newsletter of the year went out with an editorial by @lucasguttenberg.bsky.social. Read it here: www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/bst-europ... Not already subscribed? Sign up! bst-europe.eu/newsletter/

Ukraine’s EU accession is not only about reforms in Kyiv, but also political acceptance in EU capitals. This new study by @miriamkosmehl.bsky.social, @simonschlegel.bsky.social, & Susan Stewart @swp-berlin.org examines how to overcome obstacles in Ukraine's path. bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

Can the EU deepen the single market? In our article on what to watch in 2026, @cdgeiser.bsky.social focuses on the 28th regime for corporate law, which, she argues, if done right could "signal whether a second single market moment is within reach." Read more here: bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

If you want to know what the EU will really do in the 2030s, follow the debate on the EU’s long-term budget (MFF) in 2026. I contributed a short take on what to watch as negotiations heat up. This and more in our team's outlook for 2026.

Our outlook for the year is out, with key things to watch in 2026. I look at the upcoming Industrial Accelerator Act and why lead markets & european preference will be central to the EU's clean tech push. The full outlook by our great team: bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th... @bst-europe.bsky.social

It's a new year, and as usual our experts outlined key events and trends shaping Europe and the world in 2026: from geoeconomic vulnerability, to China’s next Five Year plan, the single market, security partnerships, the US midterms and more. Read their insights here: bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

EU leaders are discussing today the so-called reparations loan to finance Ukraine in the coming years. But how does it work and why does it matter? @fraghi.bsky.social had me on her podcast and asked all the good questions and so we tried to unpack this potentially pretty big Christmas gift 👇

Is Germany again dragging its feet and undermining a "simple" solution to the Ukraine financing problem, instead pushing the ubercomplex reparations loan? It's a tempting eurocrisis reflex that if only there were a will in Berlin, there would be a better way. But there isn't. Here is why:

Europe’s clean tech industry is caught between US tariffs and Chinese overcapacity, and EU producers are in trouble. A new policy brief by @etiennehoera.d-64.social, @lucas-res-car.bsky.social, @elisabettaco.bsky.social, & @ph-jaeg.bsky.social plots a path forward ➡️ bst-europe.eu/competitiven...

New policy brief! Against the backdrop of the recently released US national security strategy, we examine the impact of USAID's closure for 🇪🇺 engagement in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership. Full publication here: bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

In 2023, the US disbursed $12.4 billion in ODA to the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership. One year later, much of that support has evaporated. Our new policy brief asks: Why does it matter for Europe — and how should Europe respond? A 🧵 on the main results: bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

New Policy Brief! A joint publication of @bst-europe.bsky.social , @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social , and @delorsberlin.bsky.social. We analyze how recent shifts in US trade and industrial policy are changing the prospects for Europe’s clean tech industry, which is getting squeezed from two sides:

The EU’s Preparedness Union is an attempt to turn Europe’s resilience ambitions into action. But with 63 wide-ranging measures and no clear centre of gravity, it risks being just a box-ticking exercise. @heqs.bsky.social & Goran Buldioski suggest improvements here: bst-europe.eu/security-pol...

The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy was released overnight in the US. What are the administration’s apparent priorities pertaining to Europe? I’ve pulled out the key points from the 29-page document. PDF: www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

The EU’s Preparedness Union aims to boost Europe’s resilience, but its agenda is sprawling. @ec.europa.eu can focus it by: • Understanding national contexts. • Defining a role alongside NATO. • Leveraging EU strengths @heqs.bsky.social & Goran Buldioski explain: bst-europe.eu/security-pol...

German President Steinmeier begins a state visit to the UK today, reflecting a warming in Anglo-German relations. In fact, PM Starmer& Ministers Healey & Cooper were just in Berlin last month to push for deeper ties. @jbenford-berlin.bsky.social explains the potential: bst-europe.eu/europe-in-th...

New policy brief with Thieß Petersen @bst-europe.bsky.social : More and deeper EU trade agreements would only bring moderate growth effects - around 0.6 percent of EU GDP in five years, even under very optimistic assumptions (more in some sectors). Why this matters and what to do now: 🧵

EU trade deals would bring modest growth (~0.6%) but strategic value. With pressure from US tariffs, the EU could benefit from a pragmatic approach: lean, high-impact deals over big, hard to finalise ones. New policy brief by @etiennehoera.d-64.social & Thieß Petersen➡️ bst-europe.eu/economy-secu...

Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, has announced a major reform of his ministry to become effective in summer of 2026. As the NSC is built, the MFA refocuses. Wadephul has emphasised three foreign policy goals: protecting Germany’s security, freedom, and prosperity. 1/

Tomorrow, EU leaders meet for the Summit on European Digital Sovereignty. This new brief by experts from the newly formed European Network for Technological Resilience & Sovereignty presents a roadmap for tech resilience though knowledge, investment, & productivity. 👉 bst-europe.eu/competitiven...