The billionaire paradox
Are American tech billionaires adversaries or role models for Europe? Rebecca Christie writes that the EU should ask what it wants from globally influential tech magnates, not just how to curb them
Read more
EU
This week’s featured stories 10 August – 16 August 2026…
Welcome to the WCR weekly update. World Commerce Review is the global trade and finance platform, discussing all things political, regulatory, technological, financial and, most importantly, the future
Read more
Europe’s regulatory double bind
The EU’s AI Act was supposed to enter into full effect on 2 August 2026. But while the transparency layer has come into effect, its high-risk regime has been delayed. Marco Perugini argues that the result is a double bind in which Europe loses regulatory sovereignty whether it enforces its own rules or retreats from them
Read more
This week’s featured stories 20 July – 26 July 2026…
Welcome to the WCR weekly update. World Commerce Review is the global trade and finance platform, discussing all things political, regulatory, technological, financial and, most importantly, the future
Read more
A strategic lever to boost global decarbonisation
The Paris Agreement provides a framework for international carbon trading. Georg Zachmann and Annabelle Weisser discuss the many questions that will arise, and argue that international carbon credits can support the EU’s 2040 target if buyers’ club rules and leverage ensure real mitigation gains abroad
Read more
Achieving a banking union without increasing risks
European banking remains fragmented, leaving billions of euros inefficiently allocated. Gyöngyi Lóránth, Anatoli Segura and Jing Zeng argue that a common deposit insurance system can encourage more risk-taking, but this should be accompanied by sufficiently strict supervision
Read more
Reforming EU banking regulations
EU banking rules are under pressure for simplification. Jesper Berg and Hans Geeroms argue that reforms should cut complexity without weakening financial safeguards
Read more
Money in transition
Digitalisation is reshaping how financial markets operate, says Christine Lagarde. For Europe, this is above all an opportunity to deepen integration, strengthen autonomy and anchor innovation in trusted public money across markets and payments
Read more
Reciprocal sovereignty
The central constitutional question for Europe is how sovereign democracies can govern common goods together without creating a sovereign European state. Hans Gersbach proposes reciprocal sovereignty as an answer
Read more
Strengthening operational resilience for the age of AI
Europe faces unprecedented geopolitical and economic challenges, including high dependencies on external providers for energy, technology, security, and financial infrastructure. Frank Elderson argues reducing these dependencies is essential for safeguarding the European way of life
Read more