🛰️ One month ago at the French Embassy Berlin: Building a European Security Architecture in Space. Two panels, one message – Europe must act strategically & together. Swipe through for a few of the standout quotes on Europe's path to autonomy, security, and competitiveness in #space. Link below.

On 🇨🇳Merz promises to push back against "articifically cheap currencies & subsidies". In reform package 🇩🇪government calls for "faster & sector-wide anti-dumping & anti-subsidy measures at 🇪🇺level". EU Commission will see this as a call to action & backing for swift 🇪🇺measures.

Was bei den Diskussionen hier zum Reformpaket nicht untergehen sollte: Die Bundesregierung stellt sich in der EU-Industriepolitik gerade grundsätzlich neu auf. Neuer Handelsschutz gegen China; EU Präferenz in strategischen Sektoren und Joint Venture Regeln für chinesische Investitionen 1/2

Merz will die EU anführen– bisher mit gemischtem Erfolg. Kein Gespür für den europäischen Prozess, keine Fähigkeit, Partner einzubinden, so der Vorwurf. Doch das Vorpreschen ist kein Versehen, es ist Methode. Mein neuer Artikel für @internationalepolitik.de: internationalepolitik.de/de/fuehrung-...

Führung im Alleingang

Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz möchte innerhalb der Europäischen Union wieder mehr Verantwortung übernehmen.

internationalepolitik.de

Germany failed to equip its new EV subsidy scheme with buy-EU/buy-ally clauses. As VW announces a 100.00 layoffs, I doubt Berlin would make the same mistake today — just 4 months later. So it seems like a good moment to re-up Lucas, Nils and my blueprint for a harmonised EU EV industrial policy.

Sander Tordoir@sandertordoir.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In case you missed it, this was one of the proposals @nilsredeker.bsky.social @lucasguttenberg.bsky.social and I made how to Europeanise EV industrial policy. Most European economists I heard from agreed with this as a way forward - we seem to have balanced red lines. www.cer.eu/publications...

Big ambition. Limited impact? The #IndustrialAcceleratorAct could be a game-changer for clean #industry – but only if it goes beyond paper promises. In a new policy brief, @ph-jaeg.bsky.social and @nilsredeker.bsky.social outline what it takes to make the IAA count. ➡️ Link in the comments.

Looking at the detailed Chinese trade data for May - some stunning numbers Compared to May 2025, China's trade surplus with Germany rose by 31.6%... With the EU as a whole, the surplus is up 15% year on year China's exports to Austria up 50.8%, Portugal up 45.6%, Poland up 24%

Great to see the Commission is developing a key missing tool that can increase political unity and strengthen EU trade credibility. @etiennehoera.d-64.social, @aslak.bsky.social and I laid it out last year with a transatlantic trade war in mind: www.delorscentre.eu/en/publicati...

The pension commission that Germany set up, and whose proposals will be implemented in full, acc to both CDU and SPD, has provided an impressive reform plan. Germany's insurers, savings banks etc. will be FURIOUS.

Nils Redeker@nilsredeker.bsky.social · last mo.

More good news on EU capital markets coming out of Berlin. If Germany were to add a meaningful capital-market pillar to its pension system, it would do more for the Savings and Investment Union than many of the initiatives currently under discussion. www.ft.com/content/76f3...

More good news on EU capital markets coming out of Berlin. If Germany were to add a meaningful capital-market pillar to its pension system, it would do more for the Savings and Investment Union than many of the initiatives currently under discussion. www.ft.com/content/76f3...

Germany seeks to set up Swedish-style public pension fund

Chancellor Friedrich Merz backs proposal of investing a share of pension contributions in capital markets

ft.com

New paper out on the Industrial Accelerator Act - Nils has the key take-aways in the thread below. The mechanism in the IAA has potential - but with its proposed operationalisation, the IAA risks becoming a paper tiger: new administrative burdens, limited economic effect. How to fix that? See 👇

Nils Redeker@nilsredeker.bsky.social · last mo.

This summer, the EU plans to finally get serious about Chinese industrial policy. The Buy European rules in the Industrial Accelerator Act could be a key part of the answer. The catch: in their current form, they may do more harm than good. @ph-jaeg.bsky.social and I have some ideas to fix them.

Another reason to keep Buy European rules open: in some sectors, reshoring is simply not the right goal. Take solar panels. Europe lost the race for solar manufacturing more than a decade ago, and production is unlikely to come back. 1/

Nils Redeker@nilsredeker.bsky.social · last mo.

However, the economics are far less dramatic. In the sectors covered by the IAA, trade is already highly concentrated. In EVs, for example, 86% of non-Chinese imports come from just five partners. In most clean-tech sectors, the list of economically relevant suppliers is not much longer.

EVs illustrate the problem. Under the IAA, Buy European rules would only bind if non-compliant models are less than 30% cheaper. In other words: if state-backed Chinese producers undercut European rivals by a wide enough margin, governments would remain free to subsidise them. 1/

Nils Redeker@nilsredeker.bsky.social · last mo.

Second, the Commission’s proposal comes with a very large escape hatch. Member states can waive local-content and low-carbon requirements if compliance raises costs too much. The problem is that the thresholds are so generous that, in many cases, the IAA would become largely optional in practice.

We have a new paper out on how to make Buy European rules work @nilsredeker.bsky.social and @ph-jaeg.bsky.social. You can find the full study here: www.delorscentre.eu/en/publicati...

Nils Redeker@nilsredeker.bsky.social · last mo.

This summer, the EU plans to finally get serious about Chinese industrial policy. The Buy European rules in the Industrial Accelerator Act could be a key part of the answer. The catch: in their current form, they may do more harm than good. @ph-jaeg.bsky.social and I have some ideas to fix them.

This summer, the EU plans to finally get serious about Chinese industrial policy. The Buy European rules in the Industrial Accelerator Act could be a key part of the answer. The catch: in their current form, they may do more harm than good. @ph-jaeg.bsky.social and I have some ideas to fix them.

This summer, the EU plans to finally get serious about Chinese industrial policy. The Buy European rules in the Industrial Accelerator Act could be a key part of the answer. The catch: in their current form, they may do more harm than good. @ph-jaeg.bsky.social and I have some ideas to fix them.

As EU leaders gather at the European Council tomorrow to discuss mounting Chinese import pressure, a consensus is emerging that industrial overcapacity poses a systemic threat to Europe’s manufacturing base. Far less settled is what the EU should do about it.

Um das zu korrigieren, sollte man jetzt übrigens nicht auf den EU Industrial Accelerator Act warten. Der greift im besten aller Fälle ab Mitte 2027. Bis dahin wird ein grosser Teil des Budget für die laufenden E-Auto Subventionen aufgebraucht sein.

Nils Redeker@nilsredeker.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Chinesische Autohersteller profitieren bislang überproportional von der neuen deutschen Elektroautoprämie. Genau davor hatten @sandertordoir.bsky.social, @lucasguttenberg.bsky.social und ich letztes Jahr gewarnt. Man hätte das sehr leicht verhindern können 👇 www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikati...

Chinesische Autohersteller profitieren bislang überproportional von der neuen deutschen Elektroautoprämie. Genau davor hatten @sandertordoir.bsky.social, @lucasguttenberg.bsky.social und ich letztes Jahr gewarnt. Man hätte das sehr leicht verhindern können 👇 www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikati...

Warum Europas Kapitalmärkte hinterherhinken? Unser Co-Direktor @nilsredeker.bsky.social nennt im Gespräch mit Deutschlandradio zwei Gründe: 1️⃣ Zu wenig Erspartes findet den Weg in die Kapitalmärkte. 2️⃣ Starke Zersplitterung: Investitionen über EU Mitgliedsländer hinweg sind regulativ schwierig.

EU-Finanzminister - Kapitalmarktunion nimmt Fahrt auf

deutschlandfunk.de

I think this is what @sandertordoir.bsky.social @lucasguttenberg.bsky.social and @nilsredeker.bsky.social were suggesting in their paper: include UK, Japan, South Korea in what qualifies for 'Buy European' www.handelsblatt.com/politik/inte...

Autoindustrie: Autos aus drei Nicht-EU-Ländern sollen als „made in EU“ gelten

Neben Großbritannien könnten bald auch Fahrzeuge aus Südkorea und Japan von Ausnahmen von den „Buy European“-Regeln profitieren. Der Schritt soll ein Nissan-Werk und Tausende Jobs retten.

handelsblatt.com

Fantastic new OECD data comparing international subsidies in key sectors. "For Chinese firms, almost 60% of their global market share gains can be explained by the subsidies received." Worth keeping in mind when people insist Europe’s competitiveness problem is mainly about overregulation.

Commission China debate is now over - short readout "Current state of the trade & investment relationship is not sustainable" & "requires a more robust and coherent response" "China is a critical partner, engagement & dialogue will continue while comms channels remain open"

Von der Leyen getting serious on China trade defence. Germany moving on capital market integration. At least for today, Europe seems to have found the Draghi memo: deepen the single market at home - and defend it against unfair competition from abroad. www.politico.eu/article/von-...

Not bad at all. If Berlin is genuinely ready to move on its decade-long blockage of common capital market supervision, that would mark a pretty meaningful shift. as.ft.com/r/62f36c5b-8...

Germany shifts on EU oversight of financial services

Capital markets union ‘more important than clinging to national interests’, says finance minister

as.ft.com

The Commission is finally getting real about stronger trade defence against China. That means Brussels is willing to take a lot of political heat in defence of core European - and above all German - industrial interests. Time for Berlin to have its back. www.ft.com/content/e28f...

EU to broaden import quotas and tariffs against China

Trade defences needed to combat ‘existential’ threat to key sectors, industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné says

ft.com

Ludwig Erhard würde Peking Paroli bieten. Friedrich Merz und Katherina Reiche sollten dies auch tun. Wer Ordoliberalismus Ernst nimmt, kommt um Schutzmaßnahmen gegen Pekings Staatskapitalismus nicht herum. Das ist kein Protektionismus, sondern Ordnungsschutz. Meine Kolumne im Handelsblatt.

With the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act 2, EU tech policy is once again in the spotlight. While it’s common to criticise the state of Europe’s tech sector, it’s also important to highlight what has gone well and what it can teach us. In my new CER insight, I argue 👇 1/9

My Trade Secrets today. The EU's equipping itself with new weapons for a trade tussle with China. Is it, though? Is it really? We've been hearing this for a decade. What's really missing isn't new regulations so much as real stomach among the member states for a fight. (Looking at YOU, Germany.)

Europe’s trade weaponry is useless without political will

To stand up to China, the EU needs courageous governments, not another Commission regulation

as.ft.com

Brad and @sandertordoir.bsky.social are doing God’s work cutting through German political inertia with facts and figures. Required reading - especially in Berlin, and especially given the debates coming this summer.

Sander Tordoir@sandertordoir.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Germany is the epicentre of the China Shock 2.0 reverberating in global markets In a new joint paper, CFR's Brad Setser and I show the shock is a key driver of Germany’s economic malaise. And it's accelerating Berlin needs to stop admiring the problem, and join efforts to fight back 1/many