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The European Commission plans to establish its own intelligence service and is actively pushing the project forward. The new structure is intended to be part of a comprehensive security strategy and will report directly to Ursula von der Leyen. The impetus for this move comes from a tense geopolitical and geoeconomic environment, increasing activity by […]

In Germany and Europe, energy policy decisions continue to have repercussions today because governments have shut down nuclear power plants or rejected new construction projects, even though electricity demand is rising due to industry, electric vehicles, and heating applications. These decisions were often based on flawed reasoning regarding supposedly unaffordable costs, persistently unresolved issues of

The German government has enabled the decommissioning of gas networks through an amendment to the Energy Industry Act. Network operators will now be permitted to take their lines out of service if they no longer see a climate-friendly use for them. This is part of Germany’s energy transition plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2045.

Japan and the US have agreed on a new energy sector cooperation in Washington. During Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to US President Donald Trump, it was decided that a Japanese-American joint venture will build small modular reactors in Tennessee and Alabama. The project is valued at nearly €35 billion. Investments of almost €29

Since the beginning of the year, Germany has been subsidizing the purchase of electric cars with up to €6,000, while sales are rising noticeably and dealers are simultaneously taking in more and more older gasoline and diesel vehicles. In February, more than one in five new cars was already fully electric, and the increase was

In Germany, Fermi Deutsche Industriekraft GmbH, together with the Finnish developer Steady Energy, has been driving forward a project since March 2026 that is reigniting the debate about nuclear power. The impetus is a peculiarity in the Atomic Energy Act, which explicitly prohibits only the commercial generation of electricity from nuclear fission, while purely heat-generating

In Chemnitz, the Protestant parish of the Castle Church and St. Peter’s Church is taking drastic measures due to drastically increased district heating costs. Following a contract change by the energy supplier, the annual basic charge has, according to the parish, increased three to four times the previous heating costs, prompting the church council to

Despite massive state aid, the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg is sinking deeper into crisis. In 2024, the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony invested €400 million of their own funds and additionally provided guarantees totaling €2.6 billion. The triggers were heavy losses, expensive legacy orders, sharply increased costs, and a business model with

The canton of Aargau intends to permit new nuclear power plants in the future, following a realignment of its energy strategy by the Grand Council. The decision in Aargau came just two weeks after the Council of States’ proposal in favor of new nuclear power plants and therefore marks a clear shift in energy policy.

Japan plans to restart older coal-fired power plants at full capacity for one year starting in April. The government is responding to the fallout from the war in the Middle East, following US and Israeli attacks on Iran in late February that severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. A large portion of Japan’s

Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider has announced the construction of 2,000 additional wind turbines as part of the 2026 climate protection program. These turbines are slated to be built primarily in southern Germany by 2030. The expansion is expected to generate 12,000 megawatts of additional capacity, save seven billion cubic meters of gas annually, and

The center-right/center-left coalition passed a new fuel price cap in the Bundestag, but a statement from the CDU was at the heart of the debate. Jürgen Hardt declared that drivers could be expected to pay “20 or 25 euros more per tank” for a limited time. This was prompted by the sharp rise in fuel

In Bretten, near Karlsruhe, the Bosch subsidiary BSH (Bosch-Siemens Home Appliances) plans to close its oven and range hood factory by March 2028 at the latest. The site was modernized as recently as 2025 and is considered a model factory. A new enameling line is even regarded as a showcase technical project. The closure plans

In Berlin at the end of March 2026, several measures will be debated that could directly increase the cost of living for families and fundamentally alter their lives. The coalition is considering abolishing income splitting for married couples, ending free family health insurance coverage for spouses, and introducing new incentives to discourage part-time work. The

Europe is facing a new bidding war in the gas market. Following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf states can no longer be shipped through the Strait of Hormuz as usual. At the same time, Europe’s gas storage facilities are unusually empty after the winter. In recent