Articles

The EU and India have signed a historic free trade agreement. What is needed now is an active, long-term, progressive trade strategy. This must put goals such as sustainability, security, and partnerships between equals at the forefront.

This bonus episode of The Black Thread zooms in on a single case that distills the Norwegian paradox perfectly: the planned electrification of the gas processing plant on Melkøya. It’s a key conflict site where Norway’s net zero transformation collides with its fossil fuel industry, Indigenous rights, the youth climate movement, worker safety, and even criticism from the United Nations.

Europe’s growing dependence on air conditioning reflects a broader shift in how heat is managed. Marketed as efficient and climate-friendly, cooling technologies offer short-term relief, but their energy demand, refrigerant emissions, and lifecycle impacts risk locking households into high-emission habits while distracting from systemic solutions.

When a series of power outages hit Europe last year, the finger of blame was quickly – and falsely – pointed to an unlikely source: renewables. Blackouts are being used as a political tool to oppose the energy transition. But they can also become an opportunity for open discussions about energy infrastructure – a topic too often reserved only for technical audiences.

The turmoil in British politics offers an unprecedented opportunity to the Green party, writes Ros Taylor – though with just four MPs and a culture of local activism rather than big-picture policy thinking, it has a lot of work to do.

Both the U.S. and the EU are retreating from efforts to regulate the risks of AI. With growing economic nationalism and AI spending driving markets, the two sides are competing for AI innovation instead of collaborating to address AI risks and supporting trust in the technology. The Trump administration’s latest Executive Order on AI seeks to preempt state laws without a federal framework already in place, leaving a gap in regulation. Meanwhile, the EU is scaling back the AI Act. Big Tech stands to gain from the deregulatory pushes, while the populations of the U.S. and Europe absorb the risks.

From renewables stuck in connection queues to data centres waiting years to plug in, Europe’s power system is under strain. In this edition of 3 Questions, we speak with Elisabeth Cremona from Ember about why grids have become the backbone of EU competitiveness, security and decarbonisation.

Europe does not lack power. But too often, it lacks coherence and therefore appears weak. This contradiction became clearly visible last week. In Böll EU Newsletter 01/2026 (2.0), we take a closer look with Three Questions on the EU-Mercosur agreement, an updated dossier on EU India relations, an interview on the Democracy Shield initiative, and more.

Against the backdrop of a fragmenting trade order, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed at the World Economic Forum that Europe remains open to the world. But then, the European Parliament narrowly voted to request a legal opinion from the European Court of Justice on the EU-Mercosur agreement; a decision that could significantly delay its ratification. The vote has triggered a heated debate about Europe’s trade policy, strategic direction, and the role the Greens play in this geopolitical context. We spoke to Sven Giegold, Member of the German Green Party’s federal executive board and responsible for European coordination.

In November, the European Commission unveiled the long-awaited Democracy Shield initiative, designed to counter threats such as disinformation and foreign interference. While it acknowledges the systemic risk European democracy faces, the Shield falls short of addressing its root causes: engagement-based algorithms, Big Tech dominance, geopolitical dependency, and deep divisions that make Europe vulnerable to polarising messages. An interview with Alexandra Geese, Green Member of the European Parliament.