The Geoeconomic Interconnectivity Index (GEOII) measures for the first time, on the basis of 43 indicators grouped into the sub-indices trade, finance and policy, how closely the EU is interconnected with its neighbourhoods. It...

An analysis of short political videos on TikTok and Instagram during the 2025 German federal election campaign

Recent supply-chain disruptions and rising geoeconomic tensions have highlighted the importance of understanding critical supply-chain risks anddependencies. This priority is reflected in both the EU’s Economic Security Strategy...

Economic security has risen to the top of Europe’s strategic agenda, and the EU has intensified collaboration with key allies. While structural and political factors have so far prevented deeper engagement with the United Kingdom,...

Who is the Bertelsmann Stiftung? What are our goals? How do we carry out our work? This brochure is meant to provide clear, concise answers to those questions and others. After all, transparency is one of our core principles. We...

This policy brief investigates how the EU’s indirect-land-use-change (ILUC) rules—embedded in the Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR), the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) and the earlier Timber Regulation...

NATO’s proposed 1.5% spending target for non-military, yet defence-related, domains could advance Europe’s civil preparedness and resilience – but only if clearly defined and strategically implemented. Drawing on institutional...

The European Commission plans to streamline innovation funding through a single instrument: the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). Aiming to replace today’s fragmented system, the ECF must avoid becoming an unwieldy superfund....

Today, the most advanced AI systems are developed and controlled by a small number of private companies. These companies hold power not only over the models themselves but also over key resources such as computing infrastructure....