The Keel

Past editions

Read past editions of The Keel in full. Policy on Tuesdays. Business on Thursdays.

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  1. Policy

    Lagarde signals that Europe’s policy mix, not just rates, will determine economic resilience

    Lagarde’s remarks place Europe’s economy in a more political phase of adjustment. With inflation no longer the only organising concern, the real test is whether member states can align fiscal choices, industrial priorities, and…

    4 min read
  2. Policy

    EU invasive species screening is becoming a test of regulatory speed, not scientific awareness

    The immediate development is not simply better scientific detection of invasive species, but a stronger attempt to turn foresight into earlier regulatory action. The real challenge for the EU is that identifying threats is…

    4 min read
  3. Policy

    EU bank capital rewrite signals lower compliance drag, not lighter supervision

    The EBA's review marks a shift from adding safeguards to making the rulebook workable. That matters because European banks have spent years absorbing overlapping capital, buffer and resolution requirements that often achieve similar policy…

    4 min read
  4. Policy

    Washington's harder line is turning European defence autonomy from ambition into necessity

    The central change is political, not merely budgetary: defence decoupling is moving from a European contingency plan to a possibility driven from Washington. If the United States starts treating military support to allies as…

    4 min read
  5. Policy

    Europe’s telecom rulebook is becoming a competitiveness test

    Europe’s telecom policy debate is shifting from consumer protection alone towards industrial capacity and strategic autonomy. The immediate issue is not simply faster broadband, but whether the EU can align spectrum policy, competition rules,…

    4 min read
  6. Policy

    Brexit's fiscal drag is becoming a governance problem for both London and Brussels

    Brexit is no longer best understood as a one-off political rupture. It has become a long-running fiscal and administrative burden, with costs showing up in slower growth, narrower budget room and repeated pressure to…

    4 min read
  7. Policy

    Baltic cohesion holds despite drone incursions, limiting Russia’s room to unsettle Europe

    The immediate story is not the drone crossings themselves, but the failure of those incidents to weaken political alignment on NATO’s north-eastern flank. That matters because Russia has long relied on testing alliance nerves…

    4 min read
  8. Policy

    Malaysia redraws the EV market to favour local assembly over imports

    Malaysia has shifted from encouraging EV adoption at almost any cost to using regulation as an industrial policy tool. According to paultan.org, the new rules make the imported EV route meaningfully less attractive, which…

    4 min read
  9. Policy

    Brussels steps up enforcement, turning EU compliance into a board-level competitive issue

    The latest infringements package shows that the Commission is using enforcement more assertively to close the gap between EU legislation and national delivery. That matters because many firms have treated uneven implementation across the…

    4 min read
  10. Policy

    Europe's energy response is drifting unless crisis funding is tied to faster electrification

    The immediate debate is not only about crisis relief, but about whether the EU uses this moment to rewire its energy system or merely cushion another fossil-fuel shock. A tax on exceptional oil profits…

    4 min read