With the European Commission's latest plans for a "Made in EU" strategy, a shift in economic policy is taking shape. Public funding is set to be more closely tied to European production, with key industries – from batteries to steel – receiving targeted support. The ambition is nothing less than a reindustrialisation of Europe: climate-friendly, resilient, and competitive at the same time.

Yet this approach is more than an industrial policy programme. It is a response to a changing world: intensifying competition with the United States and China, fragile supply chains, and growing pressure to align decarbonisation with value creation. The EU aims to increase its industrial share while accelerating the transition to climate neutrality.

The crucial question, however, remains: How much "Europe first" can an open economy sustain? While proponents emphasise the strategic strengthening of European value chains, critics warn of new trade barriers and inefficiencies. Ultimately, the success of this initiative will depend on whether industrial policy can be reconciled with openness, innovation, and international cooperation.

Against this backdrop, the role of research becomes ever more important. At the Wuppertal Institute, with its new Director of the Future Energy and Industry Systems Division, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Clemens Rohde, there is a clear focus on precisely this intersection: strengthening the link between transformation research, industrial policy and systemic analysis. This marks an important step towards better understanding the complex trade-offs between competitiveness, climate protection, and social stability.

As heavy industries across Europe are in dire economic circumstances, the steel and chemicals industries. Consequently, businesses across Europe, spearheaded by the Chemical Industry, have called for structural reforms of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. In the podcast "The Jolt", Dr. Lukas Hermwille, Co-Head of the Transformative Industrial Policy Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute, discussed the misery of European industry, what the ETS has to do with it, and warned that meddling with the ETS would do little to boost competitiveness but further increase investment uncertainty at grand cost for the climate. 

The latest Energy Systems of the Future (ESYS) paper takes a more long-term perspective reinforcing the focus on trade-offs between competitiveness, decarbonisation and societal welfare. The report highlights that the transition to climate neutrality is not merely a technological endeavour, but a profound restructuring of industrial systems. It requires clear political frameworks, long-term investment security, and a nuanced understanding of interdependencies within the energy system.

What emerges is a picture of European industrial policy at a turning point: "Made in EU" can serve as a powerful guiding principle – provided it is not interpreted as protectionism, but rather as an invitation to rebalance industrial strength, climate ambition, and global responsibility. 

The coming years will show whether this vision can evolve into a sustainable success story – or if it remains a well-intentioned but difficult balancing act.

In an In Brief, researchers at the Wuppertal Institute explain why existing strategies such as net zero, efficiency improvements and recycling are not enough to tackle the current ecological crises. Instead, a new economic approach is needed – namely one that not only avoids damage but actively contributes to the restoration of ecosystems and integrates the regeneration of natural systems. The In Brief "The Regenerative Economy and Planetary Boundaries: Research and Impact Agenda" therefore calls for a fundamental reset – in both research and practice.

The Wuppertal Institute annually presents its ten most important peer-reviewed publications of the past year. With the selection from 2025, the institute aims to highlight central scientific contributions by its researchers and to provide insights into the current state of its internationally recognised research. Five articles from 2025 were selected on the topic of climate, energy, and resource transition, two articles from the area of consumer behaviour and three articles from the area of research methods.

The SD Tool of the Paris Agreement is designed to ensure that emission reduction activities under Article 6.4 contribute to sustainable development. In the report "Piloting the A6.4 Sustainable Development Tool – Lessons From Early Use", researchers, including Christoph Arens and Juliane Schell from the Wuppertal Institute, present initial findings derived from the tool’s first applications.

Despite clearer rules under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, the international carbon market landscape remains complex. In a policy paper commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Nicolas Kreibich and Max Schulze-Steinen from the Wuppertal Institute analyse global capacity building programmes that aim at Article 6 and the voluntary carbon market. They recommend greater transparency and coordination between the programmes, which should be tailored to the actual needs of the specific host countries.

An analysis by the German Academies' project "Energy Systems of the Future" (ESYS) shows: A secure, net-zero and economically viable European electricity system can be achieved without new baseload power plants – when based on variable renewable energy sources paired with extensive flexibility, storage, and grid interconnections.

On 1 February, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Clemens Rohde was appointed Director of the Future Energy and Industry Systems Research Division at the Wuppertal Institute. Under the Jülich Model, Rohde has also been named to a professorship at the University of Wuppertal (BUW). This will enable both institutions to consolidate their strategic partnership and reinforce the close links between practice-oriented research, university teaching and practical policy advice.