Ecology

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.

2026 cannot be 2025 on repeat. After a year of buying time and holding ground, Europe enters 2026 facing mounting pressure on several fronts. In this newsletter, we look ahead to the key challenges and choices that will shape the year to come, and where Europe still has room to act.

As the year draws to a close and Brussels slows down for the holidays, we would like to take a moment to say thank you to our community. In our December 2025 newsletter, we share seasonal wishes alongside in-depth analysis of the European Green Party’s trajectory in 2025, a report on consumers’ rights in the context of international trade agreements, an interview reflecting on the G20 Summit, and our regular “Three Questions” on the outcomes of COP30, among other highlights.

Independent energy system operation is a live EU debate. The Commission may raise it in the Grids Package or White Paper. Institutional reform is slow and costly, but failing to deliver policy goals is far worse. We cannot wait to fail before acting.

The Belem climate summit fell short of the progress needed to keep warming below 1.5°C. The EU’s emissions reduction plans for 2035 also remain insufficient. The EU can begin to address this by developing a clear roadmap to phase out fossil fuels.

The COP30 in Belém unfolded against rising geopolitical tensions, intensifying climate impacts, and deepening divides between high-ambition countries and major fossil-fuel producers. In light of the absence of the US administration and the final outcome that is weakened on key issues such as the fossil fuel phase-out, we asked MEP Bas Eickhout, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament and member of the EP delegation to the COP30 UN Climate Summit, how he assesses the Belém Package and what role he sees for the European Union in future climate diplomacy.

Europe once set the standards the world followed. Today, others are pushing back, challenging the EU’s regulatory power and exposing its reluctance to act strategically. Our Böll EU Newsletter 11/2025 examines Europe’s shifting role in global power politics, the rise of the green euro, new debates on security and offensive capabilities, fresh insights on the MFF, and our latest work on citizen participation in the EU energy transition.

The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), with the support of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union | Global Dialogue, is pleased to launch an open call for young climate leaders to join us for our annual flagship event, Ideas Lab, on 2 and 3 March 2026. We are looking for young people from countries that are located in the ‘Global South’ who have a passion for climate action. Ideas Lab provides a unique opportunity to look behind the scenes of EU policymaking, make new contacts from all over Europe and learn how one of the largest events of its kind in Brussels is put together. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 10 December 2025, 23:59 CET.

Europe’s energy transition has achieved a lot. The high share of domestic renewables in our energy mix buffered the fossil gas price crisis. During the last decade, solar power became the cheapest source of electricity, accessible at basically all citizens’ homes. So, if your bill goes through the roof, just put solar panels on the rooftop? Yes, but if things were so easy, the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union would not have worked with a knowledge community of 30 energy geeks and social policy nerds during the past year on how to let citizens benefit better from the energy transition

There are good reasons to wish for a future with more heat pumps: less fossil gas in the heating sector and therefore less methane leakage and less CO2 and NOx emissions; lower costs for households; and more energy independence for nations. Most of this works best with powering the heat pumps with a bigger share of renewables. In Europe, heat pumps boomed until 2023 and then dipped to 2020 or 2021 levels in 2024. Starting points and paces of change in the heat pump market differ wildly. Let’s have a virtual trip to Sweden, France and Germany and find out why those timelines are so different.