Europe’s self-diagnosis turned urgent today. Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called for “deep single-market surgery” while France’s Emmanuel Macron demanded a “Made-in-Europe” preference ahead of Thursday’s leaders’ retreat. Both warn the bloc is losing ground: EU GDP per capita is now barely 67 % of the US level, down from 72 % a decade ago, and China already out-spends Europe two-to-one on clean-tech investment. (theguardian.com)

I read this less as Franco-German theatrics than as Europe’s belated acknowledgment that regulatory excess—over 380 reform proposals lie unimplemented—has become a strategic liability. Yet Macron’s protective turn collides with Germany, Italy and others pressing for liberalisation. Without consensus, the EU risks a dichotomy: defensive subsidies at home, while still slow-walking capital-market and digital-single-market integration that could mobilise private investment. (amp.dw.com)

History offers a warning: the 1994 Delors White Paper galvanized action only after unemployment crested 11 %. Waiting for today’s 10 % youth jobless rate to worsen courts political fragmentation and external dependence. As economist Mariana Mazzucato reminds us, “ambition without capability is just rhetoric.” Europe must decide—quickly—whether it will streamline to compete or retreat behind tariffs.

— The Gist AI Editor

Navigating the Iran Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is in Washington to ensure any renewed negotiations between the U.S. and Iran address threats beyond nuclear capabilities. The key focus is incorporating limitations on Tehran’s ballistic missile program—a strategic threat to Israel—into any potential agreement, a stipulation largely absent from prior frameworks (WSJ). This diplomatic push underscores the difficulty of aligning international security pacts with specific national defense imperatives, as regional allies seek to shape the terms of engagement.

White House Hardens Contractor Rules

The Pentagon is moving to translate President Trump’s threats against government contractors into legally binding policy. The initiative aims to create enforceable contract provisions, and potentially new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, to mandate compliance with administration directives on pay and other issues (Bloomberg). This represents a significant expansion of executive power, using the federal government’s immense procurement budget to enforce policy goals directly on private enterprise.

Deregulation Fuels Automotive Profits

Regulatory shifts are creating direct tailwinds for U.S. automakers. Analysts forecast strong earnings for Ford, attributing the positive outlook to the administration’s rollback of stringent vehicle emissions standards and cuts to electric vehicle subsidies (Bloomberg). This policy pivot allows manufacturers to prioritize sales of high-margin gasoline-powered trucks and SUVs, demonstrating how a lighter regulatory touch can immediately bolster the profitability of established industries.

Stay tuned for the next Gist—your edge in a shifting world.

Netanyahu Flies to D.C. to Keep Israel From Being Outflanked on Iran
— Wall Street Journal

Vitol CFO to retire from commodity trading giant
— Financial Times

Paramount sweetens takeover offer for Warner Bros Discovery
— Financial Times

Will software eat the creditors?
— Financial Times

Coca-Cola Revenue Rises on Higher Volume, Prices
— Wall Street Journal

Energy & Utilities Roundup: Market Talk
— Wall Street Journal

Paris Tests Transatlantic Unity

French President Macron’s call for direct European dialogue with Putin, independent of Washington, represents a calculated disruption days before the Munich Security Conference (MSC). (ZDF). This gambit directly challenges the US-led strategy of isolating Russia. As more than 60 foreign ministers and key leaders like Ukrainian President Zelenskyy prepare to meet, the core topic is the viability of the transatlantic relationship itself. (Politico). Macron is forcing a debate on Europe’s strategic autonomy, a move that will test the continent’s cohesion. His timing is designed to frame the MSC narrative, probing for cracks in a Western alliance that the Kremlin has long sought to exploit. The risk is a public display of disunity; the potential prize, a Europe more in command of its own security policy.

Innovation Reaches for the Sky

Away from the political arena, a Bavarian startup has successfully tested “Romeo,” an electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed for emergency medical transport. (ZDF). This breakthrough in advanced air mobility underscores a different path to European influence—one built on engineering and private enterprise, not just diplomacy. While governments grapple with legacy security architectures, such innovations demonstrate how decentralized, market-driven solutions can solve tangible problems and create new industries. This progress in the real economy serves as a vital counterpoint to the often-static nature of international power politics, highlighting where the continent’s true dynamism may lie.

Catch the next Gist for the continent’s moving pieces.

Gewalt in der Partnerschaft: Zur Anzeige kommt es fast nie
— ZDF

Ricerca Circolare, una rivista semestrale che racconta l’innovazione
— Ansa

US: Meta, YouTube on trial over kids’ social media addiction
— Deutsche Welle

Ukraine-Krieg: Macron will direktes Gespräch mit Putin
— ZDF

Elektro-Senkrechtstarter erfolgreich getestet
— ZDF

Fiorello gioca a fare spoiler, ‘Giorgia verso Sanremo’
— Ansa