1. 🇩🇪 GERMANS REJECT DELUSIONAL CLIMATE GOALS

New YouGov polling highlighted by The European Conservative shows a clear backlash against Berlin’s top-down climate agenda. The average German citizen REJECTS the government’s preferred “limit and punish” approach to energy consumption.

Majorities oppose bans on diesel and petrol cars (69% against), weekly limits on meat and dairy (68% against), and a flat air‑travel levy (56% against). Instead, voters want policies that lower their energy costs: 71% of Germans FAVOR measures that bolster domestic production.

The German government is currently committed to climate neutrality by 2045, and German households are strained under higher energy and living costs. The vast majority of Germans have made it clear that they are not willing to give up their necessities for climate regulations. “Despite the government’s ambitious goals, the survey suggests limited public motivation to change individual habits.” according to the European Conservative.

Germans, much like the rest of the EU’s citizens, reject the idea of changing their lifestyles for their government’s overly restrictive and downright delusional climate goals. Egregious climate policy not only doesn’t work, but it tends to make things worse for the average European. The EU needs to cut regulations and stop shuttering businesses in the name of “climate change.”

2.🇫🇷 600 YEARS OF CRAFTSMANSHIP KILLED BY THE EU

Europe’s red‑tape energy experiment just claimed a 15th‑century industrial institution.

A Lyon court has ordered the liquidation of Les Aciéries de Bonpertuis, an iconic French steel foundry founded in 1434 by Carthusian monks in Apprieu, Isère, ending nearly SIX CENTURIES of continuous production.

The ruling on October 23, 2025, rejected all takeover bids, and the plant ceased operations this week, resulting in the loss of dozens of highly skilled jobs. The trigger wasn’t a lack of know‑how or demand, it was energy costs that no longer fit into the EU’s restrictive policy agenda.

Les Echos reports:

“Six hundred years of expertise gone.” Patrick Thonat, secretary of the works council (CSE) at the Bonpertuis steelworks, shares with his sixty or so colleagues the feeling of a “huge waste.”

Europe’s energy rules have driven prices to levels that punish industries that anchor industrial supply chains. Instead of finding ways to keep costs low for their own industries, Europe’s leaders are EXPORTING these industries globally.

🤖 EU TRIES TO PLAY CATCH-UP ON AI

As the EU struggles to keep pace with the US and other competitors in the global AI race, Brussels is finally taking steps to loosen its stranglehold on data, a move that will help make up key ground in a sector Europe has been critically falling behind in.

These changes, which will be revealed in the EU’s digital omnibus package later this month, adjust the commission’s General Data Protection Regulation to create a more favorable environment for artificial intelligence developers, as a recent article details.

While the EU’s actions suggest they might be willing to finally start cutting back the red tape hindering their economic growth, much work remains to be done if Europe aims to meaningfully compete with other global economies. The vast majority of the EU’s digital, regulatory framework, for instance, remains intact despite the myriad of economic issues it has brought about. These include indefinite postponements of product launches, degraded user experiences, and weakened security safeguards, among others.

If the EU truly wants to unleash its economic potential, it must go much further. Their regulatory-first approach has stifled startups and driven talent abroad, costing Brussels billions, and while the aforementioned AI reforms deserve recognition, an overhaul of the Digital Markets Act would yield an unprecedented, and badly needed, economic boost for Europe.