Thomas Damsgaard Tørsløv

7. Accelerate the Savings and Investment Union (SIU)

Great news although acceleration from the current pace does not say much. Even a little progress could lift EU productivity significantly. Impact on GDP of fully integrating capital markets are estimated at around 3-6 pct. over 10 years.

(10/10)

6. The EU is open for trade.

This is an essential signal to send in the current global trade-climate. Exposing EU-companies to competition from outside is essential to building competitiveness and opening new export markets is important for scaling EU industries.

(9/10)

5. Protect strategic industries

A few truly strategic sectors are mentioned, which is good news. It remains to be seen, whether protection can be limited to a few strategic industries, or if legacy industries succeed in lobbying for handouts at the expense of industrial dynamics in the EU.

(8/10)

Cheap power at a high price: assessing the new EU state aid rules for industrial electricity bills A subsidy turn in EU industrial policy: up to €24–31bn in electricity rebates over three years, broad national discretion, and cross-border spillovers with no clear climate benefit.

4. Energy transition is important, but "pragmatic solutions" are needed for specific sectors and member states

This sounds like a move towards short-term relief, at the expense of addressing root causes of high energy prices. This has aldready started with CISAF:

bit.ly/4kAs8rh

(7/10)

3. “Move quickly” on the 28th regime

The 28th regime has significant potential, but could be watered down to make it acceptable among member states. Impact on GDP is not directly estimated – it is likely orders of magnitude lower than point 2, but somewhat larger than point 1.

(6/10)

2. Complete the single market, as proposed by the Letta report, in 2026/2027

The important thing here, is the extremely ambitious timeframe. Estimates of GDP-impact vary greatly – according to the Commission a 6-8% level shift could be expected from a complete integration.

(5/10)

1. Push ahead with simplification

This is no surprise, given the amount of political capital spent on this agenda. If it succeeds, the effect on growth is orders of magnitude lower than the other points’: The estimated impact on GDP vary just below a 0,1% level shift over several years.

(4/10)

Remarks by President António Costa at the press conference following the informal EU leaders' retreat of 12 February 2026 During the press conference held at the end of the Informal EU leaders' retreat of 12 February 2026, President António Costa presented the main topics of the discussions.

According to António Costa, the president of the European Council, they agreed on seven main points:

(3/10)

www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

On one hand, they seem to be discussing mostly the right things.

On the other, I fear that too much focus on protectionism and deregulation ends up distracting them from the must-win battles of single- and capital market and integration and trade openness.

(2/10)

The leaders of the EU member-states just discussed how to improve European competitiveness - are they on the right track?

(1/10)

»I USA har man allerede virksomhederne, der kan drive innovationen og væksten.«

Læs mit og @vestager.bsky.social interview med @finans.dk om hvad der skal til for at drive #AI #innovation i 🇪🇺

@thinktankeuropa.bsky.social #eudk

Få svar på dine spørgsmål om EU og Grønland! 🇬🇱🇪🇺

Vores Forsvars- og sikkerhedsanalytiker, @nissenchristine.bsky.social, sidder lige nu klar til at besvare dine spørgsmål hos TV 2.

Du kan skrive dit spørgsmål i TV 2’s livechat 👇
nyheder.tv2.dk/live/samfund...

‼️STOR DAG i Tænketanken EUROPA

I dag udkommer vores #StocktakingEU rapport

@vestager.bsky.social og jeg var i #GoMorgen for at fortælle om rapporten, og hvorfor det i en turbulent tid kun bliver vigtigere at holde næsen i sporet og følge fremskridtet på 🇪🇺's dagsordener

Agriculture is only a tiny part of EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement
• EU tariff cuts on Mercosur-made meat will apply only to small share of European imports
• Real economic rationale of deal could lie in industrial and services trade, as well as mineral products
www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

🚨Trump kræver "øjeblikkelige forhandlinger" for at købe Grønland. Han kalder Danmark "utaknemmelig" og siger, at USA ikke burde "have givet Grønland tilbage til Danmark efter Anden Verdenskrig". Minder om USAs militære magt i Venezuela. Mener Grønland er "ubeboet og uudviklet".

5. EU's handelsaftaler med Mercosour, Indien, Indonesien m.fl. viser at den regelbaserede verdenshandel stadig er en mulighed, for dem der vil noget andet end Trumps anarki. Det er både et vigtigt signal og godt for de handlende økonomier.

4. "Handelsbazooka" beskriver ACI'en dårligt. ACI er en nødplan i tilfælde af at et EU-lande trues udefra. I bedste EU-stil beskriver de første mange punkter i planen måder at opnå en "fredelig" løsning på. ACI giver dog også mulighed for at tage stærke midler i brug såsom import- og eksportkontrol.

3. En modtold kan stadig være et godt svar fra EU, hvis man derved kan presse Trump til at deeskalere.

2. En told er en skat på egne borgere, som kun delvist rammer udlandet. Trump har allerede skadet USAs økonomi med sin told. På samme måde vil en modtold koste EU's borgere og virksomheder dyrt.

1. Den kommende told vil ramme hårdere end den i sommer, da kun enkelte lande påføres told. Sidste gang påførte Trump mindst lige så høj told på EU's konkurrenter som på EU. Denne gang import fra EU blive relativt dyrere i USA end import fra andre lande, hvilket vil lede til tabte markedsandele.

Handelskrig med USA

Jeg var tidligt oppe for at tale om told og handelskrig i Go' morgen Danmark.

5 pointer fra interviewet:

We are delighted to present our first keynote speaker for our Stocktaking EU conference: the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

Stay tuned for further presentations the coming days!

#eudk #stocktakingeu @lars-loekke.bsky.social

First statement from Macron:

“Tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context. Should they materialise, Europeans will respond in a united and coordinated manner. We will ensure that European sovereignty is upheld. In this spirit, I will speak with our European partners.”

Europe has to stand up to Trump. Use the Anti-Coercion instrument. There's no other way

Weakness will only invite more

Tillad mig (igen) at opsummere argumenterne imod differentieret moms.

Og bemærk: Argumenterne handler ikke om hvorvidt differentieret moms øger eller mindsker uligheden, eller hvorvidt det påvirker tilskyndelsen til at arbejde.

The US Is Attempting Regime Change In Venezuela Watch Cuba

Good Morning and welcome to another episode of regime change by the USA. The US seems to be militarily trying to get rid of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro right now. There are reports of US ground forces in action. However, watch the Cubans too. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

Som jeg også skriver i analysen stiller velfærd/velstand os ikke bedre, når det handler om strategiske mål. Fx våben.

(Dog stiller det os bedre i konkurrencen om kvalificeret arbejdskraft.)

Derfor vigtigt at kigge BÅDE på velfærd og klassisk produktion.

The European Union is becoming the world’s “quality of life” superpower Europe’s slower growth masks a key fact: EU living standards are almost on par with the US, sustained by life expectancy and equality.

Find analysen her:

(6/6)
thinkeuropa.dk/notat/2025-1...

Hvorfor er det vigtigt?

1. Det er vigtigt at økonomien danner rammerne og gode liv for borgerne.

2. Vi skal adskille debatten om BNP og produktivitet fra levestandarder og velfærd.

3. Det er netop levestandarden der kan tiltrække den veluddannede arbejdskraft, vi skal kæmpe om i fremtiden

(5/6)

I modellen jeg bruger skyldes det at borgere i EU-lande lever markant længere, har meget mere fritid og at forbruget er fordelt mere lige.

Derudover kan man tilføje at man i EU lever flere sunde år og der er mindre voldelig kriminalitet.

(4/6)