EU Seeks to Navigate ‘Conflict and Confrontation’

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

Highlighting “an era of conflict and confrontation,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned yesterday from Davos that “there is no doubt that we face the greatest risk to the global order in the post-war era.” Prospects are especially grim for Europeans, squeezed in between US and Chinese tensions that may only worsen with a Donald Trump victory, and hit by a lack of resources critical for the clean and digital transitions needed to remain competitive. Against this bleak backdrop, Europe should embrace the prospect of being on its own and become stronger and more sovereign “if 2024 brings us ‘America first’ again,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in the European Parliament.