BSt Europe

Zollchaos: Was die EU jetzt tun sollte Auf die EU kommt eine Phase der Unsicherheit zu. Sie sollte sich auf weitere Handelskonflikte mit den Amerikanern einstellen und ihre Verwundbarkeiten angehen, rät ein Europaexperte der Bertelsmann St...

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...

Incubating Integration: Regulatory Pilots within the 28th Regime Few recent EU initiatives have attracted as much enthusiasm from founders and political leaders as the ‘28th regime’ – a single, opt-in European rulebook intended to simplify cross-border entrepreneur...

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...

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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.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Europe's Clean Tech Industry Between Trump’s Policies and Chinese Pressure When presenting the Green Deal Industrial Plan in 2023, Ursula von der Leyen stated that “the race is on to determine who is going to be dominant in the clean tech market in the future”. In 2025, this...

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 🧵

After years of resistance, leaders finally say EU should go at different speeds Summit in Belgian castle sees governments acknowledge Europe urgently needs to change the way it functions if it’s not going to be left behind.

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 The world order is changing, with the outcome uncertain. What power configuration could the EU face internationally in 2035, and how can it prepare for this? In an uncertain and complex present day, i...

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...

Europe is chasing the wrong fix for its growth crisis The continent’s old growth model no longer works in today’s world. And EU leaders need a plan that matches the scale of this shift.

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.

Buying Time, Building Sovereignty: Turning Europe’s Commercial Space Ambition into Strategic Capability Europe is seeking to elevate its role in space in response to security concerns following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, capability gaps in European armed forces, and uncertainty over U.S. s...

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.

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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...

Charting Ukraine’s EU Path: Engaging with Member States Kyiv’s path to EU membership, a central strategic objective in defending Ukraine’s sovereignty, is not only a question of reforms in Ukraine, but of political acceptance in the EU Member States.

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.

Heating Up Inequality? The EU’s second Emissions Trading System (ETS2) will apply a uniform carbon price to fossil fuels used in buildings and road transport, affecting around half of the EU’s 188 million households that re...

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/

Charting Ukraine’s EU Path: Engaging with Member States Kyiv’s path to EU membership, a central strategic objective in defending Ukraine’s sovereignty, is not only a question of reforms in Ukraine, but of political acceptance in the EU Member States.

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.

Major Events and Trends Shaping Europe and the World in 2026 As Europe enters a new year, EU leaders have set out an ambitious agenda: strengthening security, boosting economic competitiveness and growth, keeping deficits in check, defending democratic systems ...

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

Major Events and Trends Shaping Europe and the World in 2026 As Europe enters a new year, EU leaders have set out an ambitious agenda: strengthening security, boosting economic competitiveness and growth, keeping deficits in check, defending democratic systems ...

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...