In the fifty-seventh episode of EU to go, Thu Nguyen and Nils Redeker discuss what the turbulent start to 2026 reveals about the state of the European Union and what course is now being set for the entire year.
The first few weeks have shown how fragile Europe's geopolitical environment has become: new trade and security tensions with the US, Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, and intensifying rivalry with China. Old certainties no longer hold true. Europe must act more independently in terms of both economic and security policy, but how capable of action is the EU really?
The two co-directors analyze what lessons can be learned from the start of the year: more flexible coalitions among member states, new majorities in the European Parliament, and a shift in the institutional balance. The focus is on the question of how closely economic competitiveness and geopolitical capacity to act are now linked and whether 2026 will be a year of strategic sovereignty or the next test of strength for the EU.
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