Business & Economy

Sep 17, 2026

Von der Leyen's €17 billion: what the State of the Union measured, and what it didn't

The Commission president told MEPs her twelve omnibus packages cut administrative burden by about €17 billion a year. EPIC's July report on the cost of Single Market fragmentation puts the market's annual welfare gain at €427 billion and the upside of completing it at several times the simplification figure. The two numbers measure different things, and that is the point.

Business & Economy

Sep 16, 2026

Scale, not capital rules: Brussels rebuffs banks as Berlin sets its terms for UniCredit

On the same Monday, Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque refused to split the EU's banking package, Germany's finance minister handed UniCredit his conditions for Commerzbank, Euronext floated a tie-up with Deutsche Börse, and Europe's first consolidated tape went live.

Business & Economy

Sep 13, 2026

EU auditors say REPowerEU has stalled as Russian LNG imports rise 10%

The European Court of Auditors says the plan to end Europe's dependence on Russian energy has stalled four years in, with member states committing less than a fifth of the EUR 300bn it needs. Shipping data shows Russian LNG deliveries to EU ports rising, not falling, with the year-end ban months away.

Business & Economy

Sep 12, 2026

Heavy industry scored 57% on Draghi delivery. Its power bills did not notice

Energy-intensive industry is the second-fastest mover in EPIC's Draghi Implementation Index, up from 40.5% to 57.1% in four months. The reforms that moved were about compensation and protection. The electricity price gap Draghi named is as wide as when he wrote.

Business & Economy

Sep 8, 2026

Why the Single Market never gets finished: EPIC's half-filled ledger

EPIC's July 2026 report on Single Market fragmentation names the structural reason integration stalls: its gains are diffuse and long-term, while protection's gains are local, immediate and organised. This week's 'Made in Europe' push shows the same asymmetry at EU level.

Business & Economy

Sep 2, 2026

Defence delivery doubled. Pharma and space did not move.

EPIC's Draghi Implementation Index recorded defence jumping from 35.7% to 78.6% in four months. Over the same window pharmaceuticals and space stayed flat at roughly 27.8% — and space is a security file.