Romania is about to become one of Europe’s most important new gas players – and CEPA argues the EU should stop treating that as a narrow national windfall. With Black Sea production from the Neptun Deep project expected to start in 2027, Romania may have surplus gas at exactly the moment Europe is trying to finish its break with Russian supply.

France and Italy have just staged a show of renewed unity at Antibes, but the IRIS note points to the awkward omission: the Indo-Pacific was missing from the serious agenda. That is not a minor diplomatic gap. It is a warning that two major EU powers are still treating the world’s central strategic arena as secondary business.

NATO’s European members are finally spending serious money on defence. The IISS analysis says the rise is real, rapid and historically significant: European NATO budgets are expected to climb by almost 10 percent in 2026, reaching around $639 billion. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nominal spending has surged by more than 90 percent.

Spain has imported one of the far right’s most dangerous ideas into actual law. The CIDOB opinion warns that “national priority” – the old Marine Le Pen formula of giving social benefits first to those deemed to belong – is no longer just a campaign slogan. It has entered legislation in the Valencian Community through the PP–Vox regional budget deal.

Ukraine is becoming the issue that could split Italy’s next election wide open. The Politico report shows Giorgia Meloni under growing pressure as support for Kyiv turns from a foreign-policy commitment into a domestic political weapon.

Nuclear power is back in Brussels’ good books – but the CEPS report warns that political fashion will not build reactors. After years of energy shocks, Russian pressure, expensive gas and industrial anxiety, the EU is again looking at nuclear as a homegrown source of low-carbon, dispatchable power.

Europe has a rare chance to close part of its productivity gap with America through artificial intelligence. The CEPA commentary warns that Brussels and national governments may blow it by reopening the very copyright rules that allow AI models to learn.