Geopolitical disruptions have a major impact on international economy, trade and politics. How are Europe and the EU positioning themselves in this changing dynamic, and what opportunities or risks does it present?

On 8 May 2025, on the occasion of the upcoming Europe Day, three experts addressed these questions:

• Thomas König (University of Mannheim), Chair of Political Science, European Politics
• Elena Bou (Esade Business School-Ramon Llull University), Associate Professor in the Department of Operations Management and Innovation, Member of the Executive Committee, and Chief Innovation Officer at InnoEnergy
• Nikolas Rajkovic (Tilburg University), Professor of International Law

The speakers highlighted that, given the current geopolitical and cultural situation on a global scale, the European Union must seek ways to reduce political, economic and cultural fragmentation; They also valued the relevant role that universities and scientific knowledge play in providing European citizens with the skills, knowledge and tools for critical thinking necessary to achieve this.

Nikolas Rakjovic explained that the current situation “is a turning point” and that the concept of “geopolitics” has changed, with a strong emphasis on the “geo”, because the world is no longer understood as a stage in which a series of colonial empires compete, but as an ecosystem full of interconnections that, in the face of situations such as climate change, is no longer seen as eternal and transhistorical. “The fragility of what we considered eternal has shaken us, making us rethink the world and, therefore, the role that the European Union has in it and how it should act in it,” the Tilburg professor specified.

Thomas König argued that Europe “faces enormous challenges and threats, including internal ones, such as the rise of populism and xenophobia based on nativism and the current national borders, which spread hatred and animosity from within the societies themselves; which end up endangering their political systems”. To face these challenges, said the Mannheim professor, “the way the European Union is organised needs radical changes to allow it to react in an agile and unified way”.

Esade-URL professor Elena Bou encouraged attendees to adopt an optimistic perspective. “Beyond the threats of the context, we must seize the opportunities before us: in the last 20 years, in Europe we have been cultivating innovation, responding to climate change, making advances in legislation that have made Europe a benchmark on how to regulate for sustainable development… This has had many technological results, the creation of startups and cutting-edge companies, the promotion of green energy and energy independence, the development of new materials, initiatives in the reduction of Co2… Now the challenge is how to implement these advances on a large scale. The current structure of the European Union is fragmented enough to make it very difficult and, if we do not seize this opportunity, our situation can only get worse. On the other hand, if we work together, we can build something that is bigger than all of us”.

The floor was then given to the attendees. Carlo Gallucci, Vice-Rector for International Relations and Students at URL, reflected on the importance of attracting and retaining talent from outside Europe in the face of demographic decline: “We should think about how to offer, without losing our European identity, the conditions for people to want to come and to stay. But we won’t be able to achieve this if we don’t rethink how we do things”.

ENGAGE.EU Secretary General, Sabine Sainte-Rose, concluded the webinar by thanking the speakers for their contributions, which made her think that “University Alliances like ours, united across different countries and disciplines, with strong links with industry and governments, play a relevant role in the future of Europe.”

Watch the video to find out what role industry and trade play, how Europe can strengthen itself as a unit, and what the idea of a Republic of Europe is all about.