BIG hosts ‘safe space’ strategy session on the future of EU energy and climate diplomacy

The Brussels Institute for Geopolitics (BIG) held a high-level ‘safe space’ strategy session on Wednesday 2 April, bringing together senior officials from across the European Commission and the EU's diplomatic service for an in-depth exchange on the future of Europe’s energy and climate diplomacy. 

Initiated by the Directors-General for Climate Action and Energy, under Chatham House rules, the session provided a confidential setting for frank, forward-looking discussion. Moderated by BIG’s Director Luuk van Middelaar, with contributions from Fellows Thijs Van de Graaf and Hans Kribbe, the dialogue, involving six Commission Directorates-Generals and the European External Action Service, sought to provide a strategic impulse to the upcoming work on energy and climate diplomacy.  

The conversation came at a moment of disruption. Trump’s return to power has far-reaching implications for all Europe’s external relations, cutting across policy fields. As to climate and energy, the US has again withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and adopted a transactional, fossil-fuel-focused foreign policy. Against this backdrop, the Commission will propose a new global climate and energy vision before COP30 in Belem, Brazil.  

Participants agreed that the world of 2019, when the European Green Deal was launched, has given way to a far more volatile and contested geopolitical landscape. They discussed what tools—be they policies, narratives, partnership offers or decision-making frameworks—must be revised and potentially revamped. They also spoke about how to engage in a mutually beneficial way with partners across the globe using vehicles such as the Global Gateway.  

The Institute’s ‘safe space’ format is designed to forge a more strategic culture in Brussels by allowing high-level decision-makers to engage with geopolitical challenges — sharply, strategically and without taboos. A dedicated space away from official EU settings, but at the heart of Brussels, provides an opportunity to step outside traditional frameworks, break down institutional silos and enable creative and unconstrained thinking.