On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Committee delivered the third consecutive rate cut in the last three meetings, bringing its key policy rate to a range of 3.5%–3.75%. Fed Chair Powell indicated increasing tensions between the two targets of its dual mandate: rising inflation, mainly due to tariffs, and weak labour market conditions, resulting in diverging views on monetary pol ...

Reflections on the VOKA business mission to Bavaria   International missions are, for me, primarily a way to understand how other regions approach technology, innovation, and competitiveness. Not to admire them, but to learn from them, and especially to see where Flanders can choose differently (and sometimes better). The recent VOKA business mission to Munich offered a fasci ...

From moral leadership to self-sufficiency   A few weeks ago, we discussed how the moral narrative in climate policy leads to paralysis today, and why a new perspective is needed[1]. For a long time, Europe relied on a moral narrative of shared responsibility and international cooperation. Climate policy was seen as a collective task in which countries trusted one another and jo ...

Last month’s summit in Berlin on “European Digital Sovereignty” gathered +900 policymakers, industry leaders, investors and researchers from the 27 EU Member States. Initiated by France and Germany, measures were presented aimed at fostering innovative solutions and infrastructures while reducing technological dependencies and protecting strategic assets. The summit served as ...

The inflation crisis in the Euro Area is over, but the real story is how stubborn services price inflation has become. On Tuesday, Eurostat published its flash estimate for euro area inflation in November, which came in at 2.2% year-on-year, up slightly from 2.1% in October. The HICP inflation estimate for Belgium stood at 2.6%. While inflation remains above the ECB’s target, ...

Data centers have become convenient villains in the public debate. They are blamed for overloading the grid, worsening congestion, consuming “too much” electricity, and wasting heat that evaporates uselessly into the air. And yes, these concerns come from real pressures: Europe’s electricity grids are strained, clean generation is lagging behind demand, and many data centers st ...

Two weeks ago, our brief outlined what COP30 needed to deliver: clearer national climate plans, stronger protection for tropical forests, and credible finance for emerging economies. Now that the summit has concluded, the results show meaningful steps forward but stop short of the structural change that science indicates is necessary. Belém did not shift global climate politics ...

Japan is slowly transitioning into a new financial era. Headline inflation has remained above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target since April 2022, marking the longest period of above-target inflation in more than 35 years. While the initial surge was driven largely by higher fresh food and energy prices, underlying inflation has also firmed, albeit more gradually. During this perio ...

Image generated by Gemini   After a bruising two years marked by falling discretionary spending, bloated inventories, and rising costs, the global sporting-goods sector is searching for its next turnaround story. Investors may not need to look far: the world’s largest sporting events are lining up like a perfectly staged relay. Between the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2026 Winte ...

Europe’s wind industry has been one of its greatest industrial achievements. For decades, European engineers and companies have defined global standards in turbine technology, offshore construction and system integration. The sector contributed in 2024 more than €54 billion to Europe’s GDP and exports €13.8 billion worth of high-value equipment and services each year[1]. These ...