After Covid, the Ukraine war and now the Iran conflict, a grim conclusion is taking hold inside Europe’s strategic circles: the continent keeps discovering its vulnerabilities only after the crisis begins. The HCSS column argues that Europe must urgently build strategic stockpiles – from fertiliser and energy to semiconductors – because global supply chains are becoming weapons in geopolitical conflicts.

A new UK–France migration deal is being sold as a breakthrough. In reality, it is another expensive attempt to contain a crisis that neither side has managed to stop. London will hand over up to £660 million to France over three years to curb small-boat crossings, with part of the money tied to results.

A fresh transatlantic row is exposing how little room Europe has when Washington decides to play hardball. The Politico report centres on a blunt warning from Donald Trump’s ambassador to the EU: stop reopening the deal, stop delaying implementation and honour what was agreed.

Four years after Russia’s gas squeeze sent Europe into economic shock, Brussels is bracing for another energy mess – this time driven by war in the Middle East and the threat of disrupted oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The CER commentary and wider Reuters reporting paint a grim picture of a continent still dangerously exposed to events it cannot control.

The commentary delivers a brutal diagnosis of how Europe now talks about itself – and why it is doing real damage. Europe’s leaders increasingly frame the EU as helpless, late and outmatched, not because it is always true, but because humiliation has become a communications strategy. The piece argues that this habit, meant to shock publics into accepting reforms or sacrifices, is backfiring badly.

France still sees itself as a leader, but this study questions how far that ambition can travel in today’s Europe. Paris has military assets, diplomatic reach and strategic instinct. What it lacks is a stable platform to turn intent into sustained leadership. Capability exists. Consistency does not.

Germany thought it had migration under control. This working paper shows otherwise. Flows through the Western Balkans remain a quiet but persistent pressure point, feeding Germany’s asylum system and exposing gaps between policy promises and reality. The system is not collapsing, but it is creaking under strain that politicians prefer not to spotlight.