Excellent news. The key point - both for the business decision and the political message it sends - is simple: green steel is the future.

Viktor Orbán concedes defeat as opposition wins Hungarian election Win for Tisza party ends rightwing populist’s 16-year grip on power and will likely reshape country’s relationship with EU

Four years ago, Orbán gloated that his election victory was so big that it could be seen even from Brussels.

Today's defeat is such that it can be seen even from Washington and Moscow.

🙏 Many thanks to the many contributors!

Nicolas Schmit
László Andor
Estelle Ceulemans MEP
@emsent.bsky.social
@cmstahl.bsky.social
Felix Hett
Mario Del Pero
@hjalloul.bsky.social
@ebenvenisti.bsky.social
Tim Haesebrouck
@renatazilli.bsky.social
Stefan Sipka
@maritmaij.bsky.social

Clarity First:majority of EU-US negotiating team of @EP_Trade agreed to reassess situation again next week. Businesses&consumers need stable tariff regime&we still don’t have that. Cannot take decisions in a vacuum. Would be irresponsible to adopt legisl. without legal certainty

Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]

Proud contributor to @feps-europe.eu progressive post. The title summarises it well, it is clear that our animal spirits are not released by heightened insecurity. They are released when people can see something being built @etuc-ces.bsky.social feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Europe’s response must protect jobs, strengthen strategic sectors and ensure that the green and digital transitions deliver for working people.

📰⤵️

“The EU has already replaced one energy dependency with another; it must now double down on a just transition and wean itself off energy imports," said ETUC Deputy General Secretary @cmstahl.bsky.social.

“Europe must respond in a firm, proportionate and united manner. Fragmentation would only weaken our position and expose workers and industries to greater instability," said ETUC General Secretary @estherlynch.bsky.social.

The EU must ensure Trump tariffs don’t cost jobs.

That means taking action to protect jobs and strategic industries.

Crisis management tools should be urgently introduced.

What progressives must relearn Freedom is not the absence of constraints, but the collective capacity to shape what comes next

Politics is not only about interests. It is about identity, meaning and the future.

Populists understand this. Too often, we progressives have not.

Why democracy must once again become a future people can shape together.

My latest essay 👇

www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Clarity and legal certainty are needed before any further steps are taken.
At our extra meeting tomorrow, I will therefore propose to the EP-negotiating team putting legislative work on hold until we have a proper legal assessment and clear commitments from the US side. (3/3)

Terms of Turnberry Agreement and legal basis on which it was built have changed.
Do new tariffs based on Section 122 not constitute a breach of the deal?
Regardless, no one knows whether the US will adhere to it – or even be able to (2/3)

Pure tariff chaos from the US administration. No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other US trading partners (1/3)

Good news! US Supreme Court blocks Trump’s tariffs: trade policy must respect democracy and the rule of law.

What progressives must relearn Freedom is not the absence of constraints, but the collective capacity to shape what comes next

Politics is not only about interests. It is about identity, meaning and the future.

Populists understand this. Too often, we progressives have not.

Why democracy must once again become a future people can shape together.

My latest essay 👇

www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

The allure of darkness Mann argued that the success of demagogues depends less on strategic brilliance than on favourable circumstances and, above all, a lack of resistance

Excellent piece by @g-kwiatkowski.bsky.social Yes, the struggle for the soul of the world is now playing out in many places. www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

EU leaders’ retreat needs to hear less about ‘deregulation’ from Draghi Big and small European companies are most concerned about the lack of skilled staff.  So why is this not a key topic at the EU leaders' retreat on 12 February in the Alden Biesen castle, when 'simplif...

When trying to improve competitiveness, EU leaders should avoid policies being captured by existing companies protecting their current business models. High environmental standards and investering in skills is better for the economy than deregulation.
/ #AldenBiesen

Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]

What Europe needs is a shared project that people can believe in – not a misguided business-led adjustment strategy and another abstract debate on competitiveness

Read @cmstahl.bsky.social article on The Progressive Post @feps-europe.eu 👇

feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]

Proud contributor to @feps-europe.eu progressive post. The title summarises it well, it is clear that our animal spirits are not released by heightened insecurity. They are released when people can see something being built @etuc-ces.bsky.social feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Belgian castles in the air A missed opportunity for competitiveness through investment

My take on the meeting of EU leaders: a missed opportunity to launch an investment-led recovery

open.substack.com/pub/andrewwa...

If you want analysis of European economic and employment issues in your inbox - roughly weekly, I hope! - you can sign up for a free substack subscription.

Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]

This week, we also explore the EU’s #competitiveness

🇪🇺 Instead of deregulation, the EU needs a competing vision of competitiveness grounded in building capacity

Read the Progressive Page by @cmstahl.bsky.social

🗞️ feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]

📣 Deregulation breeds uncertainty. It signals retreat rather than ambition. It risks reducing #competitiveness to short-term cost-cutting instead of long-term capacity-building.

👉 Read blog by @cmstahl.bsky.social in @feps-europe.eu ⬇️ #investments #strategy

feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, PM of Canada Canadian PM Mark Carney stressed the end of the rules-based international order and urged middle powers to act together to counter the great power rivalry.

Mark Carney’s speech is well worth watching or reading www.weforum.org/stories/2026...

🧐Did you know?

👉Later this year, the #EC is expected to review #EURegulation1025/2012 on #Standardisation.

📢What are the @etuc-ces.bsky.social priorities? Watch the video below to find out 👇

@cmstahl.bsky.social @guido-dejongh.bsky.social

💡New to #standardisation? Here's the @etuc-ces.bsky.social handbook "Standards at the Workplace"

👉Now available in English, French and Swedish, you'll learn where #standards come from, and why they matter for #workers

www.etuc.org/en/etuc-hand...

@cmstahl.bsky.social @guido-dejongh.bsky.social

‼️ @etuc-ces.bsky.social: "EU-Mercosur: Safeguard mechanisms & flanking measures for #workers must be added to the agreement"‼️ @belgaenglish.bsky.social @brusselstimes.com @euobserver.com @rtbf-info.be @jpmarthoz.bsky.social @terzake.bsky.social @anneliesbeck.bsky.social @mondiaalnieuws.bsky.social

@etuc-ces.bsky.social calls for safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers to be added to Mercosur agreement. @cmstahl.bsky.social : absent "the agreement risks fuelling social dumping, deepening inequalities and undermining public confidence in trade policy" www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

@cmstahl.bsky.social 📢 "If labour commitments aren’t made stronger or if safeguard mechanisms & flanking measures are absent, the agreement risks fuelling social dumping, deepening inequalities & undermining public confidence in trade policy."

Needed for the EU-Mercosur deal to deliver for workers⤵️

That means:
🔹 robust Trade & Sustainable Development chapter, enforcing ILO core conventions
🔹 real flanking measures for workers – access to funds, sectoral support, early social impact reviews
🔹 role for trade unions in monitoring & implementation
🔹 guarantee for social conditionality tools

Ahead of next week’s discussions on the EU-Mercosur agreement, we're calling on the EU & Member States to include strong safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers.

Trade can only support European policy objectives if it delivers decent work and fair competition.