Keir Starmer will find it hard to improve the Tory Brexit deal – which most EU leaders like. But if he is willing to offer something in return, they may give him a better deal.
A Labour government will want to reshape relations with the EU. The 2026 review of the trade deal offers only limited scope for change – but that should not constrain Labour’s ambitions.
The traditional British model of economic regulation has not always supported investment and innovation. The UK’s digital competition bill could learn from these mistakes.
The UK competition authority has decided Microsoft cannot acquire games company Activision. This should reassure politicians that the authority wants dynamic and competitive markets.
As the EU reforms its fiscal rules it risks repeating past mistakes. The EU should couple Commission discretion with stronger enforcement mechanisms to get member-states to follow debt reduction plans.
To gauge what the EU's next big political fights will be, look at what Ursula Von der Leyen did not say in her annual speech to the European Parliament.
The European Commission’s proposal to reform the electricity wholesale market is modest, but pragmatic. But the EU must strengthen the grid to improve its energy security: infrastructure planning should be co-ordinated at European level.
Retail energy markets in Europe have performed poorly during the recent crisis. The Commission’s proposed reforms are a step forward, but they should do more to empower consumers and protect the vulnerable.
If NATO allies want to support Kyiv effectively and reinforce deterrence, they need to build up their industrial capacity and strengthen NATO’s European pillar.
Despite warming EU-UK relations, defence co-operation remains thin and the EU’s deepening involvement in defence industrial policy means there is a growing gap in developing military capabilities.
The EU and the UK have almost identical objectives vis-à-vis China, and are pursuing very similar policies. After Brexit, can they still work together closely?
China has mostly offered Russia rhetorical support in its war against Ukraine. Beijing seems uncomfortable with Putin’s nuclear sabre-rattling. But China is unlikely to allow Russia to be decisively defeated.
