The analysis asks a question Europe is quietly afraid of answering – is it ready for the rise of artificial general intelligence. The answer, stripped of polite language, is no. While AGI is still emerging, the paper argues that Europe is already falling behind on the basics: investment, infrastructure, talent and governance speed. By the time AGI becomes real, Europe risks being a rule-taker in a world shaped elsewhere.

The commentary flips Europe’s favourite talking point on its head. Immigration grabs headlines and fuels elections, but it is not the continent’s most serious problem. The real danger, the piece argues, is Europe’s growing technological backwardness. While politicians argue over borders, Europe is quietly losing the race that actually determines power, wealth and sovereignty.

The analysis dissects the European Commission’s new “competitiveness compass” and delivers an awkward verdict – the ambition borrows Draghi’s language, but the means fall far short. Europe talks about scale, speed and power, then hands itself a roadmap without fuel. The piece argues that Brussels is acknowledging the problem while ducking the political and financial costs of fixing it.

Europe is walking into the AI age with its guard down. This CEPA analysis warns that Russian propaganda is finding its way into AI chatbots, quietly shaping answers, narratives and perceptions. These systems learn from open data polluted by disinformation, state-backed media and manipulated content. Once trained, they repeat distortions at scale, with no intent and no context. The danger is blunt: Europe risks automating lies faster than it can correct them.

Europe keeps arguing about borders while quietly losing the future. This Project Syndicate argument by Nouriel Roubini says immigration is not Europe’s core problem – technological backwardness is. While the US and China pour money into AI, chips and advanced industry, Europe dithers, regulates and congratulates itself for caution. The gap is no longer theoretical. It is showing up in growth, productivity and power. Europe is not overwhelmed by outsiders – it is being outpaced by rivals.

France talks like a heavyweight but increasingly plays like a constrained middle power. This Centre for European Reform analysis lays out an uncomfortable contradiction – Paris wants global influence, strategic autonomy and leadership in Europe, yet its room for manoeuvre is tightening fast. Economic strain, industrial limits and hard geopolitical realities are cutting into France’s claims of independence.

Europe’s labour market is losing its nerve – and the cracks are starting to show. This Deutsche Welle report, drawing on expert views from the Centre for European Reform, says firms are quietly hitting the brakes on hiring as growth sags and AI creeps into everyday work. After a brief post-pandemic moment when workers held the power, the mood has flipped – fewer vacancies, weaker industry and rising anxiety about automation.