January 29, 2026
We convened at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid for our first Board meeting of 2026. These sessions are essential for maintaining the analytical cohesion of the network and ensuring our collective research continues to inform European development policy effectively.
The morning session is dedicated to a stocktaking of our second semester in 2025. By reviewing our recent progress, we are refining our roadmap for the coming year to ensure our evidence-based insights remain relevant to the evolving international cooperation landscape. We shared best practices and synchronised activities, to ensure coordination across our network’s expertise. We also focused on aligning our work with key international and policy processes as well as mapped the thematic priorities within various European capitals and member states to better coordinate our efforts.
Our meeting also delved into EU competitiveness and strategic autonomy agenda, a presentation led by Judith Arnal of the Elcano Royal Institute, explored how Europe can balance economic resilience with its global commitments in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical environment. The session provided technical insights into critical raw materials (CRMs), cloud computing, and semiconductor value chains, alongside the evolving landscape of EU regulation in these sectors.
