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From the UK to Japan, so many countries need to quickly be brought inside the European tent without the rigours of full membership. The worst conclusion to draw from Iceland’s EU referendum result last month would be that the country, apparently now on Donald Trump’s imperial map along with Canada and Greenland, wanted to distance itself from Europe.

Donald Trump has inadvertently done Europe and Canada a favour. By describing Canada becoming an Associate Member of the EU as potentially “hostile” and threatening retaliation, he has shown that the initiative matters. The decision on the relationship between Canada and the EU is theirs alone. They are entitled to deepen their economic and political integration. Neither should accept a US veto over their partnerships. Nor is there much to lose from standing firm.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union (SOTEU) should resist the temptation to only add another catalogue of EU ambitions. Europe increasingly knows what it needs to do. The challenge is turning ambition into delivery and partnerships into power. The SOTEU comes at a moment of profound geopolitical, economic and democratic pressure. It will inevitably contain new initiatives.

Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union once again demonstrated no shortage of European ambition. But Europe increasingly knows what it needs to do. The challenge is turning ambition into delivery and partnerships into power. Europe is operating under profound geopolitical, economic and democratic pressure. Yet the delivery gap between the scale, scope, depth and speed of action required and what Europe actually delivers continues to widen.

Ahead of Lithuania’s upcoming Council Presidency, this EPC Thought Leadership Forum with Sigitas Mitkus, Minister for European Affairs, will explore Europe’s evolving economic‑security agenda at a moment of intensifying geopolitical competition. The conversation will take a look at how the EU positions itself between major global powers, strengthens resilience against economic and hybrid pressures, and safeguards critical infrastructure in a more contested environment.

While the European Union remains the biggest source of funding, estimates indicate that Kyiv will exhaust its cash reserves well before the end of 2027. This dialogue will discuss the efforts undertaken by the EU and the international community to support Ukraine to date and explore possible solutions for deploying the €210 billion of immobilised Russian sovereign assets currently in the EU.

In this paper, published on the International Day of Democracy, Carl Dolan traces how the EU’s preoccupation with disinformation, and especially foreign interference campaigns, has skewed its policies to protect democracy.

The adverse impacts of fossil fuels on the European economy and society have never been clearer. Carbon emissions drive climate change, an existential threat to Europeans’ prosperity and livelihoods. As the EU has limited domestic gas and oil resources, it relies on imports, making it vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and higher energy prices.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union address comes at a moment when the EU is once again navigating overlapping challenges — from security pressures and industrial competitiveness to the political turbulence shaping the transatlantic relationship.

This summer’s screen Odyssey ends with Ulysses admitting that the victory never tasted like one. Troy did not end an order. It made plain that the order had already ended. Europe now blames Putin for shattering the rules-based order and Trump for dismantling what remains of it. Both charges are fair, but also convenient: if the fires are the problem, firefighting is the answer. And Europe has become very good at firefighting. The euro survived, NextGenerationEU broke taboos, sanctions held.