Europe’s energy transition has entered a new, more geopolitically charged phase, reflecting the changing world around it. The old European story was climate leadership. The new story is national resilience: how to cut power costs, rebuild strategic industries and reduce exposure to external coercion in a world where trade and supply chains are increasingly instruments of power. That shift is visible in Brussels’ language. “Pragmatism” has become the new watchword, signaling more flexibility. Critics read that as retreat, but Europe is not stepping back on the transition but rather trying to operationalize it, and execution, not ambition, is now the defining challenge.
