The European Union has redefined its strategic priorities through three phases: the rise of geoeconomics, the structuring of de-risking, and their current testing in a shifting global context. Geoeconomics exposed the link between economy, security, and power, driven by US and Chinese strategies to weaponise industrial assets and by renewed geopolitical rivalry. Europe’s dependence on critical raw materials, especially Chinese rare earths, accelerated the push for strategic autonomy.

Since 2021, with the European Economic Security Strategy, the Chips Act, and the Critical Raw Materials Act, Brussels has pursued de-risking as diversification rather than decoupling, focusing on semiconductors, green technologies, and critical minerals. Yet US, Japanese, and South Korean industrial policies show de-risking is a broader challenge. The EU must now deliver concrete results, combining competitiveness and resilience with multilateral cooperation. How can Europe secure adequate resources to meet these goals? And how can it balance industrial autonomy with global partnerships?

Table of Contents

IN BRIEF

WHAT’S AT STAKE

The “Restless State Era”
1.1. The US shift: from Trump to Biden to Trump
1.2. Europe’s response: between Bidenomics/Trumponomics and Made in China 2025
BOX 1 – Korea’s Outward Investment Strategy
(Hyok Jung KIM, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy – KIEP)

The state of investments in key sectors
2.1. The semiconductor industry
2.1.1 United States: Leading the industry
2.1.2 European Union: Great ideas, but no long-term strategy
BOX 2 – ASML and Technology Exports to China
(Frans-Paul van der Putten, Clingendael Institute)
2.2. The lithium ion-battery (LiB) industry
2.2.1 The “Battery Boom” under threat?
Trends and scenarios for the US from Biden to Trump
2.2.2 Navigating uncertainty: The European trade-off for the battery industry
2.3. The critical raw materials Industry
2.3.1 Lithium and nickel: Overview of investments and production capacity

SO WHAT?
Chip race at stake: Building momentum or losing ground
Whatt at stake? The challenges for the US-EU battery industry
The missing link in the critical, battery minerals sector

EXPLORING OPTIONS
EU Chips Act
Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA)
European Critical Raw Materials Act

Our take: Refocusing the economic security strategy on partnership