Javier Rodriguez
2.7K posts
Belgian PM Bart De Wever just gave Ursula von der Leyen (and Europe) the most brutal wake-up call of 2026: “Europe must never become an industrial museum.” Key lines that hit hard: - “A year ago I said Europe must never become an industrial museum… the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution cannot turn into a beautiful heritage park where visitors admire the prosperity of the past while the future is built elsewhere.” - Chemical sector: closures increased sixfold in four years — 10% of European production capacity lost. - “We seem to be finding or adding barriers faster than we remove them.” - 3.9% of workforce manages regulation → only 1.7% invents the future. - “If we neglect our industrial base, we lose not only growth — we lose influence, and ultimately sovereignty.” His three urgent fronts: Give industry room to grow (technological neutrality, shock therapy on regulation) Build partnerships that strengthen, not dependencies Attract and scale strategic projects (clean tech, defense, AI, critical minerals) Final warning: “Decarbonization of Europe will become synonymous with its deindustrialization, and eventually with its poverty and irrelevance.” De Wever says Europe’s industrial decline is a conscious policy choice — not inevitable. Do you think he’s right that we’re sleepwalking toward poverty and irrelevance… or can the EU still reverse course in time?
