Critical technologies and industrial capabilities: National definitions and implications. The French case.
France has historically paid significant attention to strategic technologies and industries, whether they were strictly defence- and nuclear deterrence related, or considered as vectors of national independence and security, more broadly.
The German Industrial Power in Danger: The Double Shock of Energy Transition and Geopolitical Risk
The German manufacturing industry at the heart of the German economic activity has been confronted in the past years with conjunctural shocks, which question its existence on the German territory: the energy transition which hinders it in the short term to resort to fossile energy from Germany and nuclear energy; a questioning of fossile energy imports from Russia which keeps production sites of fossile energy and nuclear energy in Germany; the currently small capacity of renewable energy to satisfy the important energy needs of the manufacturing industry and the putting into place of alternatives to the importation of energy resources.
Fishing for Chips: Assessing the EU Chips Act
China, the United States, and the European Union (EU) are currently developing strategies for semiconductors aimed at financing R&D and the installation of new factories on their territories, in particular through subsidies. The EU Chips Act, announced in February 2022, represents a real break in Europe's industrial policy.
Moving towards a metallic age: building industry resilience through a strategic storage mechanism for Rare Earth Metals
The decarbonisation of our economies, along with the challenges of strengthening the resilience of industrial value chains, reindustrialisation, notably through low-carbon and digital technologies, and the end of a period of cheap oil and gas, are accelerating the advent of an era of increased dependence on metals in a context of new and growing competition for access to resources.
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: A Piece in the Industry Decarbonization Puzzle
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a first step toward reconciling the European Union (EU)’s climate and trade interests. However, a complementary set of domestic and external policies will be needed to drive the decarbonization of European and global energy-intensive industries.
After the Hydrogen Bubble Bursts: The Factors Shaping and Possibly Unfolding International Hydrogen Value Chains
The laws of physics and the geographic realities will prevail over the myths of hydrogen (H2): it will essentially be delivering carbon-neutral feedstocks to the chemical and steelmaking industries, carbon-neutral fuels to shipping and aviation, and eventually ensuring security in fully decarbonized power grids.
Green Batteries: a Competitive Advantage for Europe’s Electric Vehicle Value Chain?
Aligning its climate and industrial policies, the European Union (UE) is introducing sustainability requirements for the whole life-cycle of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This initiative would not only ensure that EVs fit with Europe’s climate-neutrality and resource-efficiency pledges, but also give European new entrants a better chance to compete.
Consequences of the coal phase-out on the electricity production in Germany: a best practice model for Europe?
2020 marked the beginning of the total phasing out of electricity production based on coal, as well as coal extraction in Germany. Laws implemented in 2020 concluded a governmental process started in 2015, which itself resulted from a prior broader debate on the role of coal in a viable and sustainable energy and economic system.
The Automotive Industry: The Achilles’ Heel of German Economy?
The global car market has been shrinking since 2018. This is a key economic sector for Germany whose producers belong to the Top 15 carmakers worldwide. Yet they are running the risk of being outclassed and eventually replaced, given emerging actors in the USA and China.
French Defence Policy Since the End of the Cold War
With a look at evolutions over the past three decades, the thematic chapters cover French defense institutions and civil-military relations, the transformation of armed forces, nuclear deterrence, the defense industry, military interventions, and alliances.
The Politics of Amnesty in the Niger Delta : Challenges Ahead
Armed groups, many affiliated to the Niger Delta-wide political organisation MEND, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, proliferated throughout the oil producing states, particularly from early 2006 onwards. In January 2006, MEND declared war on the oil industry pending the resolution of long term political grievances relating to poverty and underdevelopment, the poor regulation of an environmentally polluting oil industry, and the alienation of local people from rights to land and resources in the Niger Delta.
MALE Drones: Europe's Options?
European countries, lead by France, are expected to take a decision soon on the development and acquisition of MALE drones.
Their choices will be crucial not only for the preservation of European operational sovereignty in military terms but also to guarantee the future of the European aerospace industry.
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