Europe says it wants a reliable, integrated power market. This policy brief shows how far reality lags behind the promise. Capacity mechanisms meant to keep the lights on are multiplying across member states, poorly aligned and barely coordinated. The result is higher costs, distorted markets and growing risk just as electricity demand and system stress rise.

Europe says it is getting serious about China. This report suggests otherwise. Across trade, technology and security, the EU is still caught between recognition and reluctance. The risks are clearer than ever, but action remains cautious, uneven and heavily constrained by dependence and division.

Germany’s China policy has flipped from cosy commerce to uneasy competition, and this report explains why the old model finally broke. Berlin spent years selling the idea of win-win trade while piling up dependency and risk. Now reality has intruded. China is no longer just a market. It is a strategic challenger, and Germany is scrambling to adjust without wrecking its own economy.

Europe’s green pride is under pressure, and this analysis shows why. China is closing the gap in wind power fast, undercutting prices, scaling production and eyeing global markets Europe once dominated. Denmark and its neighbours built the industry. Now they risk losing control of it.

The analysis delivers a cautious but telling verdict on the European Union’s current state. Internally, the bloc has steadied itself after years of crisis politics. Institutions function, compromises hold, and collapse is off the table. Externally, however, the picture is far harsher. Europe faces mounting pressure from rivals, partners and a changing global order it struggles to shape. Stability inside has not translated into strength outside.

The analysis delivers a blunt assessment of Europe’s China policy and finds a continent stuck in the middle with shrinking room to manoeuvre. Brussels talks about de-risking, resilience and strategic realism. In practice, Europe remains deeply entangled with China economically while lacking the power or unity to shape the relationship on its own terms. The paper argues that Europe is trying to manage a rivalry it did not choose, with tools that are not strong enough.

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.