Benjamin Haddad, France’s minister delegate for Europe, speaks in depth with Jeremy Cliffe for 'Agenda Pública'. From the Munich Security Conference, Haddad argues that "European sovereignty depends on its ability to act as a coercive power if necessary", proposes a capital-markets alliance with Germany, Italy and Spain, warns that "there is no reason for joint debt issuance to be taboo", and concludes that "honesty must be backed by strength and power". "Let us rise as a power," he says, and Europe will have "a much more mature and balanced transatlantic relationship."

Jeremy Cliffe, columnist at 'Agenda Pública' and editorial director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, reports from the 2026 Munich Security Conference on a "good" transatlantic divorce: for the first time, the US and Europe state their differences frankly. Rubio frames his speech around cultural heritage; Macron, Merz, von der Leyen and Sánchez around defence and values. Cliffe highlights Europe’s push for eurobonds, coalitions of the willing and industrial preference to strengthen sovereignty and inject momentum into economic integration.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares points out from the Munich Security Conference that "sovereignty means being free from trade coercion, from the threat of the use of force, and also achieving digital sovereignty". Jeremy Cliffe talks in depth for 'Agenda Pública' with the Spanish minister, who claims Spain's foreign policy is based on "humanist values versus an authoritarian vision of the world".

"A low-profile moderate perceived as a consensus builder": this is António José Seguro, Portugal’s new social-democratic president. Frederico Ferreira, a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, offers a post-election analysis of a presidential race in which, although Chega’s radical right has lost, its candidate André Ventura is "claiming to now lead the right" and "he aims for Prime-Minister".

Marc López Plana, director and editor of 'Agenda Pública', warns in his weekly column about Silicon Valley’s miscalculation: allying itself with Trumpism against EU regulation. Betting on political volatility rather than Europe’s institutional stability is strategic suicide. Tech companies need to understand that the regulatory predictability of Brussels offers something that Trump cannot: long-term legitimacy and legal certainty.

The new initiative from Pedro Sánchez to restrict access to social networks for minors under age 16 goes beyond child protection: it’s an attempt to reclaim regulatory power from global platforms that operate outside of European control. Strategic autonomy isn’t only about infrastructure or data but the political capacity to impose limits on those who dominate the digital ecosystem.

Even as Germany flirts with stagnation, Spain has established itself as the unexpected engine of the European Union. But that macroeconomic success conceals a dangerous point of friction: the inability of Spain’s political system to manage growth. Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', warns in this week’s 'Brújula Europea' that the lack of structural consensus between the PSOE and PP on housing, immigration, regional financing, and infrastructure is not only a problem of management, but a fertile breeding ground for populism.

"They have pretended they do not want to leave, claiming they are willing to stay, but only if the EU changes fundamentally." In a conversation with Marc López Plana, Editor and Director of 'Agenda Pública', the 'Financial Times' senior editor and former Paris Bureau Chief, Victor Mallet, warns that "there are two ways to leave: exiting the existing institution, or staying in an institution so transformed that the effect is the same." His diagnosis serves as a red alert for Brussels: the arrival of the RN at the Élysée would not only transform the Republic but would "mortally weaken" the European Union. Is Europe prepared for its central pillar to cease being liberal-democratic?

Cracks have appeared in the Chinese Communist Party’s internal apparatus, and Xi Jinping seems determined to wipe them out. Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', goes beyond the domestic to consider how movements in Beijing could prove decisive in Spain, which is "a key piece" in Xi’s plan "to separate Europe from the United States."

The differences between the US and Europe often lead us to think about a rapprochement with China. However, in terms of artificial intelligence, this seems a long way off. Researchers Unai Gómez-Hernández and David García García explain that, despite the fact that years ago "the foundations for cooperation between the European Union and China" in AI were laid, the many differences in the way the two sides approach the subject and their political nature mean that the rivalry "has gone from being a bilateral disagreement to a dispute over forums and coalitions."

"What we have taken for granted for decades no longer exists," Mark Leonard says in a wide-ranging conversation at the London headquarters of the European Council on Foreign Relations with Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', and Toni Timoner, Board member at 'Agenda Pública'. This is a long but essential interview, offered exclusively to our readers. The ECFR’s director examines how Donald Trump has fractured the transatlantic alliance and what this means for Europe and the wider world. Leonard reflects on the erosion of trust in the United States, the rise of China, the reshaping of European power, and the strategic challenges facing Europe in defence, trade and migration.

In an international landscape marked by uncertainty, the director and editor of Agenda Pública, Marc López Plana, travels to Brussels to speak with Javi López, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Rosa Balfour, Europe Director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Both agree that the European Union is facing unprecedented pressure on its sovereignty and point to a series of strategic challenges the Twenty-Seven will have to confront in the coming months.

"With his eyes on Greenland," National Security researcher J. P. Carroll brings together Leonard Schuette, a researcher in the International Security Program and fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard University, and former ambassador Eric Nelson to analyze the potential next moves President Donald Trump could make on the international stage. Nelson warns that "Russia and China would be relatively more powerful" if the United States were to lose Europe as an ally. In the same vein, Schuette emphasizes that Washington would lose its position "as a guarantor of security in Europe" if it "moves against Denmark" over control of the Arctic island.

J. P. Carroll, senior researcher on National Security and Trade at the Rainey Center for Public Policy, interviews Peter J. Brown, former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to Donald Trump and a senior fellow at the America First Policy Institute. In their conversation, they cover the main items on the transatlantic political agenda, from Greenland to NATO and the Trump administration itself.

International crises have been known to generate "a temporary boost of confidence," opening "a unique strategic window" for leaders experiencing declines in domestic support. In this edition of Brújula Europea, Marc López Plana explores the extent to which Pedro Sánchez might use this ‘rally-round-the-leader’ effect to gain political advantage – precisely at a time when a new election might be called.

Why do European elites continue to believe they can manipulate leaders like Trump or Putin? Agenda Pública speaks in Paris with the Italo-Swiss thinker to examine the fusion of political authoritarianism and the major technological “predators.” Da Empoli issues an existential warning to the European Union: liberal democracy in the United States is facing a regime change in which “the use of force becomes a real possibility,” and Europe’s only way out, he argues, may be an open conflict over digital sovereignty.

Javi López, Vice-President of the European Parliament, analyzes the implications of the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur and contends that "it has come at the right time." For Europe, the treaty is "an essential starting point if it wants to remain a relevant player." Looking at Spain, he finds "particular relevance" and stresses that, together with Germany, the country has served as "a driving force for approval."

"If Europe is not going to defend Denmark, then what exactly is the EU for?" asks Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law at HEC Paris. As an expert in the Union's legal architecture, he considers Greenland to be "the most serious test of sovereignty for Europe since the Cold War." He proposes an EU that activates its strategic levers to defend its territory, but issues a final warning: deterrence "only works when the other party believes you will act."

"To understand Repsol’s presence in the White House," writes Marc López Plana, editor and director of 'Agenda Pública', "it must be recognized that Josu Jon Imaz is not seeking to validate an autocratic system for pleasure, but to operate within it, to prevent his shareholders and the company’s workers and investments from losing out in the transition to a new order." He argues that, "If we are unable to build a kind of governance that can compete with the extractive efficiency of neoroyalism, we will be reduced to moralistic spectators in a world that no longer listens to us.

Donald Trump's insistence on acquiring Greenland, according to the White House, is driven by national security imperatives regarding China. However, a territorial analysis reveals that, beneath this security rhetoric, material factors – particularly access to critical minerals – more precisely explain American interest. While official discourse emphasises an alleged Chinese "omnipresence" in the Arctic, the data presents a more nuanced reality.

No longer a remote island, Greenland is now a test of credibility for the European Union. Strategic designs by the United States on European territory are highlighting the extent to which the EU is capable of defending its sovereignty. Without a unified response, the notion of strategic autonomy will be rendered rhetorical. Spain should involve itself in this matter.

For decades, Europe has delegated responsibility for its own security while confusing an absence of war with peace. Today, that convenient arrangement has become a strategic vulnerability. As Marc López Plana – editor and director of 'Agenda Pública' – points out, Spain suffers from "an incomplete strategic culture." The defense of multilateralism must be more than a declaration; Spain should promote the creation of a European army capable of sustaining the legal order that it claims to uphold.

The arrest of Nicolás Maduro marks a turning point for Venezuela. Now, "there are concerns about how democracy will be restored," and U.S. analyst J. P. Carroll points to senior government officials and key players in the US private sector who will decide much of what happens in the South American country.

Donald Trump says that the United States will "run" Venezuela until a "proper transition" takes place. U.S. analyst J. P. Carroll speaks with Francis Rooney, former Vice Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Max Meizlish, researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to assess the democratic challenge of Trump’s move, the possibility of Venezuela becoming "a new Iraq," and the complicated situation of the opposition to Maduro.

For Jeremy Cliffe, editorial director of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), 2026 looks set to be "much more than an in-between year" could be "the boundary between the early-21st century and mid-21st century Europe." In a year marked by the radical right's agenda, debates on European economic architecture and the EU's role in the world—and in which Spain celebrates 40 years since joining the European Union—2026 looks set to be much more than a time of transition.

Despite the urgent need to approve its economic budget, France remains in political deadlock. Miguel Ángel Ortiz-Serrano, PhD in Economic History and Professor of Economics, dissects the "partial victory" of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, whom he sees as "the only figure capable of building bridges to both the left and the right" to prevent further economic declines.

After devoting his career to analyzing inequality, the Serbo-American economist warns that "political power tends to move toward those who have money," and that democracy ends up being "ostensible." In a conversation with 'Agenda Pública' vice president Rodrigo Pinedo, he also emphasizes that "globalization has been coming to an end on the external front" since the first Trump administration, but that "neoliberalism is not ending domestically."

From Washington, D.C., security adviser J. P. Carroll speaks with former CIA officer and geostrategy expert Bjorn Beam. An adviser to several NATO partner countries, he argues that the current context is ideal for Europe to "take its security seriously" and reviews some of the most pressing items on the agenda, including Venezuela, the U.S. security strategy, and the conflict in Gaza.

Everyone on this list deserves to be here, but not all who deserve to be mentioned are on the list. Spain is experiencing a moment of high global influence: the PP, the PSOE, and Vox all possess significant weight among Europe’s organizations. Spain has been fundamental to the stability of the European Commission, and a good number of Spanish officials occupy key posts at organizations such as NATO – distinctions that the Government of Spain is keen to maintain. Here are some of the most influential Spaniards in Europe in 2025.

"Today it’s necessary that we make our decisions through politics while also assuming collective responsibility." In this edition of Brújula Europea, Marc López Plana – director and editor of 'Agenda Pública' – reflects on how, after five years of global crises, the European Union is leaving behind its tradition of passive consensus and becoming a more political entity: more conflictive, more deliberative, and more capable of making strategic decisions.