HAMBURG, Germany -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang avoided public clashes on a high-profile visit to Germany and France this week, in what analysts see as a sign of the European nations' reluctance to alienate Beijing.

Faced with the risk of losing investments in the technologies of the future, due to subsidies that its global competitors are pumping into their economies, the European Union is forced to rethink its industrial policy.

The United States and Europe risk entering into a subsidy war, each trying to support the competitiveness of their economies… their market economies… with public money. Meanwhile, member states expect from Brussels solutions that will allow them to remain relevant in a world where interventionism is the order of the day.

From the cupola of the great amphitheater of the Sorbonne, the five large medallions in monochrome representing the sciences, letters, law, medicine and theology will judge the event. Sunday January 22, in the morning, in one of the oldest universities on the continent (founded in 1253), the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz must meet Emmanuel Macron, where the French President made his great speech on Europe in 2017.

Two leaders under pressure to repair relations after rifts over defence, energy and China. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosted the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for lunch on Wednesday as they sought to iron out significant differences on energy and defence that have weakened their relationship at a time of war in Ukraine.

If the decision to replace the engine for the F-35A is implemented, countries flying F-35s will find themselves forced into unforeseen and overly complicated supply chains.

While some argue that the next Franco-German power couple could be business as usual, there are some potential sticking points ahead.

German Chancellor Merkel has met with French President Macron in what could be her final working visit to France. Some analysts say their cooperation should have produced more results.

"Thirty years of infidelity" is how France's current affairs magazine Marianne describes Germany's relationship with France. An issue this month was devoted to how Germany has been "fleecing France" for years.

Cyprus is set to be ‘remade’ in the coming years through €1 billion in grants from the European Recovery Plan, as we’ve reported here, but there are a few issues to be resolved along the way, according to EU policy experts and economists.

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The European Union’s chief antitrust official, Margrethe Vestager, has made her name tackling big corporate fish in pretty unconventional ways. A ruling on Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which came with a seven-figure fine, argued free services weren’t always good for the consumer, while those on Apple Inc. and Starbucks Corp. deemed that low taxes were illegal state aid (though some judges begged to differ).