European Union
Can Europe regain its competitiveness and its power, or only manage its own decline? Should the union build an army, widen further, or risk coming apart? Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Schmidt, who helped build it, sit with Margaret Thatcher, who never trusted it, and Hannah Arendt. They will not agree, and that is the point. Start with the debates below.
- Debates
- 39
- Council voices
- 33
- Last debated
- 28 June 2026
The council in action
What would they do about the European Union?
Each thinker’s concrete moves, drawn straight from their debates.
HS
Helmut Schmidt
Explore Schmidt →- Build European compute infrastructure using the same intergovernmental logic that produced the European Monetary System.How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Designate Mistral and comparable European frontier model efforts as strategic industrial assets requiring deliberate public investment.How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Build European defense capabilities within NATO's existing command structure.Should the EU build an army?
MT
Margaret Thatcher
Explore Thatcher →- Fix European defense industrial base before creating new command structures.Should the EU build an army?
- Preserve NATO division of labor while improving European conventional capabilities.Should the EU build an army?
- Maintain NATO's existing nuclear sharing arrangements and integrated command structures.Should the EU develop nuclear weapons itself?
KA
Konrad Adenauer
Explore Adenauer →- Maintain NATO framework while developing European industrial defense cooperation.Should the EU build an army?
- Reject any European army structure that concentrates military command in single nation.Should the EU build an army?
- Strengthen NATO integrated command structures rather than creating parallel European military institutions.Should the EU build a unified military force?
Browse by topic
Recurring dilemmas
Strategic autonomy & defence
14 debatesCan Europe defend itself and act on its own, or does it stay dependent on the United States?
- How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Should the EU build an army?
- Should the EU build a unified military force?
- How can the EU reduce its dependency on US and Chinese AI?
- Should the EU develop nuclear weapons itself?
- Should European countries develop independent defence capabilities as a backup to US security guarantees?
Europe and China
7 debatesHow should Europe answer China’s subsidised exports and its technological rise?
- How can the EU reduce its dependency on US and Chinese AI?
- Who would win from European degrowth—the planet, China, or nobody?
- How can the EU protect its economy from heavily subsidized Chinese imports?
- Should the EU impose trade barriers against China to protect its economy?
- How can the EU avoid a full-blown trade war with America and China?
- Should the EU subsidize manufacturing industries to regain independence of China?
The future of the union
22 debatesShould the EU deepen, widen, or risk coming apart?
- Is the rise of the AfD a threat to German democracy, or a sign that it functions?
- Should the EU build an army?
- How can the EU protect its economy from heavily subsidized Chinese imports?
- Should the EU impose trade barriers against China to protect its economy?
- Should the EU develop nuclear weapons itself?
- Can the European Union become both more democratic and more decisive at the same time, and if so, how?
Technology & society
6 debatesWhere should Europe draw the line on technology and online life?
- Why don't EU countries invest in mutual train lines to reduce CO2 emissions?
- How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- How can the EU reduce its dependency on US and Chinese AI?
- How to secure Europe's future by allowing construction of datacenters, while protecting affordability in energy for the European population?
- Should the Netherlands regulate AI more strictly?
- Should social media be regulated in the EU?
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