This Bruegel policy brief delivers an uncomfortable message Europe keeps dodging – the EU’s defence “autonomy” talk collapses the moment you look at the receipts. Europe is heavily dependent on US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) for key weapons systems, especially as countries rush to rearm after Russia’s war in Ukraine. The problem is not just political pride. Reliance on US arms sales creates delays, reduces Europe’s control, and risks leaving European militaries exposed if Washington changes priorities. Europe wants to be taken seriously as a security actor – but it is still shopping like a client, not building like a power.

This EUISS commentary warns that Europe is walking into a brutal new era where critical raw materials are no longer “commodities” – they are weapons. The return of Trump-style protectionism, combined with China’s dominance over many supply chains, is turning minerals into tools of pressure, punishment and price warfare. Europe is dangerously exposed: it needs these materials for defence, batteries, renewables and industry, yet it lacks control over both supply and processing. The EU talks about resilience – but in a real showdown, it is the one most likely to be squeezed.

This RUSI commentary argues the Franco-German partnership has a tiny window to save Europe from slipping into irrelevance – and that window is closing fast. With war in Ukraine, a potentially tougher US administration and Europe falling behind economically, Paris and Berlin are supposed to lead. Instead, they are weighed down by conflicting priorities, slow decision-making and national self-interest. The message is blunt: without a serious new Franco-German “covenant”, Europe risks drifting, divided and weak.

This HCSS “Draghi Report Revisited” piece delivers a blunt reality check on European artificial intelligence. Brussels talks up innovation, “trustworthy AI” and digital sovereignty – but Europe is losing the race to the US and China, and it is not even close. The EU has talent and research, yet it lacks what matters most in AI: scale, capital, compute, and companies that can dominate globally. Europe’s AI problem is not hype – it’s structural weakness, and it is getting worse.

This HCSS “Draghi Report Revisited” piece takes a hard look at Europe’s semiconductor ambitions one year after Mario Draghi’s warning on Europe’s economic future – and the findings are uncomfortable. The EU has laws, slogans and “coalitions”, but it still lacks what matters: speed, money, and industrial scale. Instead of landing big wins, Europe is watching major chip projects collapse or freeze, exposing how fragile the EU’s semiconductor strategy really is.

This HCSS “Draghi Report Revisited” piece delivers a blunt warning: Europe’s green and industrial ambitions are built on shaky ground because the EU does not control the critical raw materials it desperately needs. Brussels talks about resilience, strategic autonomy and supply security – but Europe remains dangerously dependent on imports, exposed to geopolitical pressure, and painfully slow at building its own mining, processing and recycling capacity.

It has been argued that in 2024, for the first time since the beginning of the 21st century, the number of democracies in the world exceeded the number of autocracies. According to most indicators, Europe continues to be one of the most democratic regions on the planet. The latest annual Freedom House calls it the “most free region in the world.”

After the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) was made public and raised the issue of ‘civilizational erasure’ of Europe due to uncontrolled migration, the migration topic is in the spotlight again. Bernard Chappedelaine, ex adviser to the French Foreign Ministry, discusses the dangers of uncontrolled migration in his analytical brief.

France is still clinging to the idea of sending its soldiers to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict zone. This activity by official Paris is based on its desire to firmly establish its leading position in the European continent.

German defense minister Boris Pistorius made a sensational statement in his recent speech at the Berlin Space Congress. It emerges that the German authorities are planning to make their country a world-class military space power, which amounts to joining an élite club. According to open sources, only the USA, Russia and China have managed to militarize outer space by now.