The Brief
7 March 2025

Europe is for ‘Her’, as Trump’s America goes back in time

By Magnus Lund Nielsen

As Trump chops up anything that rhymes with DEI, the European Commission launches new equality initiatives, proving that the transatlantic divide is not just about military alliances and Ukraine but fundamental values.

The shared commitment to economic prosperity has both sides of the Atlantic embracing two completely different remedies.

In Trump's US, hyper-liberalisation is the diet of choice to free American trade and combat what are seen as far-reaching leftist policies.

Washington is purging DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives from government agencies, universities, and even the military as references to gender, and racial equity are vanishing from official Pentagon documents.

This fixation on meritocracy will hurt US competitiveness. At least, that's how the European Commission sees it.

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The Roundup

Energy – Surging use of capacity markets for electricity in some of the EU’s biggest countries could have devastating effects, researchers and internal European Commission documents warn.

Tech – Poland has circulated a questionnaire among member states on the Child Sexual Abuse Material Regulation (CSAM) compromise, in hopes to speed up adoption of the Council position.

Agriculture – Due to high energy costs, major European producers such as Yara and BASF are closing their ammonia factories, essential for fertiliser production.

Across Europe

Poland – Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced plans to encourage military training for every adult man in Poland in a speech on Friday, with a model outlining how to stand up the expanded military training expected by the end of 2025.

Slovakia – Contrary to Slovakia's historical traditions of armed resistance, some Slovak leaders seem to be actively discouraging a military defence of the country. Much of the rest of the EU is talking about rebuilding military forces to counter the Russian threat, but the tone coming out of Bratislava has been different.

Hungary – Budapest authorities reported on Friday that the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease is back in the country after more than 50 years.

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