“Europe Between Geopolitics and System Competition”: EBS Europa Institute Discusses Europe’s Capacity to Act

How can Europe secure its economic strength, innovative capacity, and strategic agency in the face of changing geopolitical conditions? This question was the focus of the EBS Europa Institute’s event “Europe Between Geopolitics and Systemic Competition,” which brought together high-level representatives from the worlds of politics, business, security, and technology for a discussion.
 

On October 2, 2026, the EBS Europa Institute hosted this year’s flagship event on the campus of EBS University in Oestrich-Winkel. Following opening remarks by Rector Prof. Dr. Henning Werner, Minister of State Manfred Pentz, Hesse’s Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs, and Debureaucratization, emphasized in his keynote address the importance of a strong Europe for Hesse and Germany. He argued that this requires less bureaucracy, better framework conditions, and institutions that learn and adapt more quickly.
 

Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who served as commander of U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) from 2014 to 2017 and was stationed in Wiesbaden, focused on the transatlantic partnership. At the same time, he called for greater European self-confidence: the capabilities are there, he said; what matters now is deploying them more decisively.
 

During the subsequent discussion sessions, moderated by Prof. Dr. Diane Robers, Academic Director of the EBS Europa Institute, it became clear that Europe possesses talent, capital, research strength, and industrial expertise. The central challenge is to translate these strengths more quickly into innovation, scalability, and strategic relevance.

In closing, Prof. Dr. Diane Robers summarized: Europe’s driving force should be excellence and relevance in the sense of indispensability. Only in this way can the existing potential in talent, capital, and technological and industrial expertise be translated into global competitiveness.