The European elections start today, and it is the voters in the Netherlands who are going first. They are called upon to go to the polls by 9 pm today when the polling stations close. On Friday, it’s the turn of the Irish, followed by voters in Malta, Latvia, and Slovakia on Saturday. On Sunday, the polling stations in the other member states will close in the evening.
The first national forecasts are expected from 6 pm. Two hours later, at around 8:15 pm, the first projection for the new parliament will follow on the basis of the forecasts in the member states where the polling stations have closed. Another projection for the distribution of seats will follow after 11 pm, based on the first preliminary results from all 27 countries.
For EU nerds like us, this election is like our own Olympics. That’s why the Table.Briefings Editorial Team is launching a news ticker today. There you will be able to read everything about the European elections. On Sunday, the entire Editorial Team will be on deck in Brussels and Berlin, accompanied by our correspondents in Paris, Madrid, Rome, Warsaw, and Prague.
We will take a close look at what is happening in the European elections: The new balance of power, the winners and losers of the elections as well as the effects at the national level – be it in Germany or France, Italy or Spain. In the turmoil and noise of these elections, we will be looking for what really matters.
I wish you an exciting read.
“Stop EU madness” can be read on election posters throughout Austria. You will look in vain for a portrait of a candidate for the EU Parliament. Instead, you will find Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymyr Zelenskiy kissing in front of tanks, wind turbines and refugees. Buzzwords such as “warmongering”, “corona chaos” and “eco-communism” are emblazoned on the FPÖ’s black and white posters.
With its anti-EU stance, the right-wing populist party has been leading the polls for months. Its lead candidate Harald Vilimsky is ahead with just under 30 percent and therefore believes his party is entitled to the post of EU Commissioner if it comes first.
However, the EU Commissioner is nominated by the respective federal government. He or she also needs a majority in the National Council. The ÖVP and the Greens are in power in Austria, but new elections will be held in September 2024. The ÖVP is polling at around 20 percent, the Greens at ten percent. A new coalition therefore seems a long way off.
Nevertheless, the ÖVP could once again appoint the EU Commissioner, which it has always done since Austria joined the EU in 1995 – much to the displeasure of the opposition. This role is currently held by Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Budget and Administration.
During the coalition negotiations, the ÖVP and the Greens agreed in a “side letter” that the ÖVP would once again be allowed to appoint the Commissioner. Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer insisted on this. Such secret agreements, which regulate the most important politically appointed posts such as National Bank Director, ORF Director General and the ECJ, already existed in the previous government between the ÖVP and FPÖ, as reported by Der Standard.
The FPÖ protests. In response to an inquiry, it stated that “the nomination of the Austrian EU Commissioner should be the responsibility of the new government”. The new Commissioner should only be appointed after the National Council elections and should be a “Commissioner for Re-migration”. He should either be appointed by the FPÖ or “in a halved commission together with other [countries]”, as FPÖ top candidate Vilimsky said in an interview with ORF in April. This new commissioner should “tackle the EU’s failure to repatriate illegal residents in the EU”, Vilimsky also explained in a press release.
The FPÖ and ÖVP both remain silent on the question of personnel. Several names have recently been mentioned in the ÖVP environment: European Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and, most recently, Finance Minister Magnus Brunner. However, Schallenberg has explicitly denied any possible ambitions.
Pollster Peter Hajek sees the ÖVP at an advantage. “The formation of a coalition could be protracted because two new parties could enter parliament. It is therefore easily possible that the black-green government will still provide the commissioner”, he told Table.Briefings. Time is running against the right-wing populist party.
Otherwise, the ÖVP and SPÖ hardly stood out in the election campaign for the European Parliament. Both are at around 20 percent. “I can’t recognize the election campaign tactics of the SPÖ and ÖVP“, says pollster Hajek. “Both parties have long-serving, experienced top candidates. The Social Democrats are campaigning to ‘shape Europe fairly’ – but they have been saying that for 20 years. The ÖVP is doing it according to the motto ‘Europe is better’. There is ‘no emotion and nothing tangible in it’.”
The FPÖ, the NEOS and the Greens, on the other hand, are all about emotions. The liberal NEOS – with top candidate Helmut Brandstätter at 13 percent – are clearly the most pro-European party. They are calling for a deepening of the EU with the “United States of Europe”. The FPÖ, on the other hand, is positioned on the other side: The expulsion of foreigners, more subsidiarity, less regulation and a reduction in bureaucracy as well as the return of competences to the member states. Although there is no “Öxit” with the FPÖ, top candidate Vilimsky threatened in an interview with Der Standard that payments to Brussels could be stopped.
According to Hajek, the Greens’ election campaign is also emotional. “For them, it’s all about the climate, so it’s easy for them.” However, the election slogan “Heart instead of agitation” of the Greens’ top candidate Lena Schilling took on a new meaning at the beginning of May. According to a report in Der Standard, Schilling is said to have made several false claims about third parties, causing them problems that threatened their existence in some cases. The Standard investigated deeply into Schilling’s private life; a novelty in journalism in Austria, which also raises questions about how far journalism is allowed to go.
The Green party leadership is united behind Schilling. They are sticking by their top candidate, who only recently switched from climate activism to politics. However, the Greens made several gaffes at a press conference. Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler, for example, described the reporting as “farting” and “mumbling”. The accusations against Schilling, on the other hand, were not denied. “The crisis management was pretty much the worst that has been seen in Austria for a long time”, says Hajek. However, surveys conducted by his opinion research institute show “that the Greens have not lost that much ground.” They have a stable voter base, but could lose their third mandate to the NEOS.
Immediately after the election, the member states will once again deal with the most controversial dossier of the Green Deal. The Belgian Council Presidency is making one more attempt to get the renaturation law over the finishing line after all. At the Environment Council on June 17, the member states are to hold a final vote. Parliament has already formally waved the trilogue result through, so all that is missing is the approval of the ministers.
Just a few days later, climate action should have been high on the agenda again – at the EU summit on June 27-28. There, the heads of state and government will agree on the strategic agenda – i.e. the direction and goals of the EU member states for the next five years. It was debated whether the member states would agree on their own position on the EU’s 2040 climate target at this point. In all likelihood, they will not, as unanimity is required. The member states have not yet been able to agree on the Commission’s proposal of a 90 percent reduction in CO2 compared to 1990, nor on a lower target or a target corridor.
The German government does not yet have a united position on the EU’s 2040 climate target either, although Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) demonstratively backed the Commission’s proposal at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin at the end of April. Insiders from Brussels report that the upcoming Hungarian Council Presidency wants to put the issue on the table at the EU summit in December.
By spring 2025 at the latest, the EU member states will also have to submit their climate target for 2035 (NDC) to the United Nations. In theory, a qualified majority in the Council of Ministers is sufficient for this. In EU logic, however, a target for 2040 must first be set, from which the target for 2035 emerges, which further complicates the process. In the weeks and months following the European elections, the focus will, therefore, be more on the more fundamental climate policy lines than on regulatory activities.
Unless the new Commission gives in to pressure from the EPP and reintroduces the CO2 fleet limits for cars from the Fit for 55 package in order to reverse the phase-out of combustion engines. This is not particularly likely as long as Ursula von der Leyen remains in office. Nevertheless, the remaining German Christian Democrats, in particular, are serious about their desire to be able to continue allowing new combustion engines after 2035.
The Hungarian Council Presidency, which is not very well-versed in climate policy, will be very cautious in the second half of the year. On the one hand, because no new proposals are expected from the Commission. Secondly, because it will not set its priorities in climate policy.
A new legislative package to implement the climate target is not planned until 2026. Unlike the Fit for 55 package for the 2030 climate target, it will contain fewer new measures, but rather align existing measures with the potential increase in ambition. For example, the European Emissions Trading System for Energy and Industry (ETS 1) could be extended to other industrial sectors. The focus is on the agricultural and food sectors. Solutions are also needed for the integration of natural carbon sinks (carbon farming) and technical CO2 removal (direct air capture), which will play a role in the 2040 climate target.
Some of these measures are likely to be implemented as part of the regular legislative revisions due in 2026 or 2027. These include the ETS and the carbon border adjustment mechanism CBAM, but also the Common Agricultural Policy. Initial proposals for the CAP after 2027 are expected in the coming year.
The question of how to finance the energy and industrial turnaround will also arise in the coming years. The pandemic recovery fund expires at the end of 2026 and public funds will also be kept tighter again due to the new EU debt rules. A central concern of the EU Commission and some member state governments is therefore the deepening of the Capital Markets Union. This should ensure that European companies have easier access to funding to invest in their growth.
However, national hurdles could continue to stand in the way of this goal. Even if the Capital Markets Union comes to fruition, there is no guarantee that the additional capital will flow into climate-friendly measures. The EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the period from 2028 to 2034 offers another opportunity for more funding. The first proposal for this is due in mid-2025. With János Ammann
For far too long, Latin America was seen as the backyard of the USA, but Brazil has a lot to offer, says Cesar Cunha Campos: “Brazil is often underestimated, although in reality it is a diverse country with significant technological and energy resources.”
As Managing Director of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), he has been committed to Brazil’s development since 2003. Until 2018, he headed the technical consulting unit FGV Projetos with over 300 experts from the fields of economics, finance, management and politics. There, the engineer developed projects for leading Brazilian companies in the public and private sectors, including feasibility studies to raise funds from major banks and development agencies. He has also represented FGV as a knowledge partner of the OECD since 2010.
As Brazil’s leading educational and research institution, the FGV plays an important role in the country’s academic world and influences political and economic events, according to the 68-year-old. The Brazilian foundation has its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro and is represented in all of the country’s major cities with over 4,000 employees. To strengthen its international presence, particularly in Europe, Campos came to Cologne with FGV Europe in 2016. At that time, the city provided the foundation with premises in the Messe building for its first international office worldwide.
Campos holds a degree in civil engineering from the Pontificia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro and a Master’s degree in business administration from London Business School. He received his doctorate in transportation planning from the Technical University of Vienna and initially worked as an engineer in Brazil’s transportation sector.
Cesar Cunha Campos was responsible for setting up and managing the first international FGV office, building international relationships with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors and developing international studies and projects. He describes FGV Europe as a think tank with the main objective of positioning Brazil more internationally. The institution shares the FGV’s expertise on Brazil through research, projects, technical support, seminars and publications. According to Campos, it is not primarily about profit, but rather about exchanging expertise and promoting cooperation between Brazil and Europe to enrich both sides.
Not only because Brazilian culture is closely linked to European culture, but also to promote and educate mutual understanding: “Brazil is big, but people think it’s an island.” On the other hand, the mediation function also plays an important role in the transfer of knowledge about the structures and functions of the European Union in order to ensure that the EU is better understood in Latin America.
Cesar Cunha Campos sees the biggest differences between Germany and Brazil in the bureaucracy. While his Brazilian colleagues sometimes struggle with this, the Brazilian himself finds it easy to empathize with the German mentality. He is structured, never loses track of things and plans carefully. An advantage for his mediating position and possibly due to his German family background, he says. Campos has been commuting between Cologne and Berlin since last year. The foundation has also opened an office in the capital. This makes it easier to maintain links with the German government.
Brazil is making progress in green energy, sustainable resource extraction and agriculture in particular, according to Campos. “President Lula is striving to establish Brazil as a leading power in the global South alongside India and China.” The upcoming G20 presidency and the COP30 conference in 2025 would provide Brazil with ‘golden opportunities’ to demonstrate the country’s leadership qualities. A closer partnership between Germany and Brazil would be extremely beneficial for both sides.
The Mercosur free trade agreement would create one of the world’s largest free trade zones with more than 700 million inhabitants. This is of great importance for Latin America, but even more so for the EU, which is drastically losing economic power and whose share of global economic output is continuously falling. Germany, an export nation, is suffering the most from these trends. This free trade agreement was therefore urgently needed and it was regrettable that the negotiations had lasted twenty years without concluding.
Overall, he describes Brazil’s relations with the EU as positive and growing. The challenge lies not in the people, but in the geographical distance, as Germany is closer to China than Brazil, for example. In the future, he wants to expand academic cooperation with universities in the EU, particularly in Eastern Europe. “The big universities have a great interest in becoming more international, and that suits us as FGV very well.” He has just been to Charles University in Prague and Mendel University in Brno, where there is great interest in cooperation. Sarah Birkhäuser
The European elections start today, and it is the voters in the Netherlands who are going first. They are called upon to go to the polls by 9 pm today when the polling stations close. On Friday, it’s the turn of the Irish, followed by voters in Malta, Latvia, and Slovakia on Saturday. On Sunday, the polling stations in the other member states will close in the evening.
The first national forecasts are expected from 6 pm. Two hours later, at around 8:15 pm, the first projection for the new parliament will follow on the basis of the forecasts in the member states where the polling stations have closed. Another projection for the distribution of seats will follow after 11 pm, based on the first preliminary results from all 27 countries.
For EU nerds like us, this election is like our own Olympics. That’s why the Table.Briefings Editorial Team is launching a news ticker today. There you will be able to read everything about the European elections. On Sunday, the entire Editorial Team will be on deck in Brussels and Berlin, accompanied by our correspondents in Paris, Madrid, Rome, Warsaw, and Prague.
We will take a close look at what is happening in the European elections: The new balance of power, the winners and losers of the elections as well as the effects at the national level – be it in Germany or France, Italy or Spain. In the turmoil and noise of these elections, we will be looking for what really matters.
I wish you an exciting read.
“Stop EU madness” can be read on election posters throughout Austria. You will look in vain for a portrait of a candidate for the EU Parliament. Instead, you will find Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymyr Zelenskiy kissing in front of tanks, wind turbines and refugees. Buzzwords such as “warmongering”, “corona chaos” and “eco-communism” are emblazoned on the FPÖ’s black and white posters.
With its anti-EU stance, the right-wing populist party has been leading the polls for months. Its lead candidate Harald Vilimsky is ahead with just under 30 percent and therefore believes his party is entitled to the post of EU Commissioner if it comes first.
However, the EU Commissioner is nominated by the respective federal government. He or she also needs a majority in the National Council. The ÖVP and the Greens are in power in Austria, but new elections will be held in September 2024. The ÖVP is polling at around 20 percent, the Greens at ten percent. A new coalition therefore seems a long way off.
Nevertheless, the ÖVP could once again appoint the EU Commissioner, which it has always done since Austria joined the EU in 1995 – much to the displeasure of the opposition. This role is currently held by Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Budget and Administration.
During the coalition negotiations, the ÖVP and the Greens agreed in a “side letter” that the ÖVP would once again be allowed to appoint the Commissioner. Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer insisted on this. Such secret agreements, which regulate the most important politically appointed posts such as National Bank Director, ORF Director General and the ECJ, already existed in the previous government between the ÖVP and FPÖ, as reported by Der Standard.
The FPÖ protests. In response to an inquiry, it stated that “the nomination of the Austrian EU Commissioner should be the responsibility of the new government”. The new Commissioner should only be appointed after the National Council elections and should be a “Commissioner for Re-migration”. He should either be appointed by the FPÖ or “in a halved commission together with other [countries]”, as FPÖ top candidate Vilimsky said in an interview with ORF in April. This new commissioner should “tackle the EU’s failure to repatriate illegal residents in the EU”, Vilimsky also explained in a press release.
The FPÖ and ÖVP both remain silent on the question of personnel. Several names have recently been mentioned in the ÖVP environment: European Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and, most recently, Finance Minister Magnus Brunner. However, Schallenberg has explicitly denied any possible ambitions.
Pollster Peter Hajek sees the ÖVP at an advantage. “The formation of a coalition could be protracted because two new parties could enter parliament. It is therefore easily possible that the black-green government will still provide the commissioner”, he told Table.Briefings. Time is running against the right-wing populist party.
Otherwise, the ÖVP and SPÖ hardly stood out in the election campaign for the European Parliament. Both are at around 20 percent. “I can’t recognize the election campaign tactics of the SPÖ and ÖVP“, says pollster Hajek. “Both parties have long-serving, experienced top candidates. The Social Democrats are campaigning to ‘shape Europe fairly’ – but they have been saying that for 20 years. The ÖVP is doing it according to the motto ‘Europe is better’. There is ‘no emotion and nothing tangible in it’.”
The FPÖ, the NEOS and the Greens, on the other hand, are all about emotions. The liberal NEOS – with top candidate Helmut Brandstätter at 13 percent – are clearly the most pro-European party. They are calling for a deepening of the EU with the “United States of Europe”. The FPÖ, on the other hand, is positioned on the other side: The expulsion of foreigners, more subsidiarity, less regulation and a reduction in bureaucracy as well as the return of competences to the member states. Although there is no “Öxit” with the FPÖ, top candidate Vilimsky threatened in an interview with Der Standard that payments to Brussels could be stopped.
According to Hajek, the Greens’ election campaign is also emotional. “For them, it’s all about the climate, so it’s easy for them.” However, the election slogan “Heart instead of agitation” of the Greens’ top candidate Lena Schilling took on a new meaning at the beginning of May. According to a report in Der Standard, Schilling is said to have made several false claims about third parties, causing them problems that threatened their existence in some cases. The Standard investigated deeply into Schilling’s private life; a novelty in journalism in Austria, which also raises questions about how far journalism is allowed to go.
The Green party leadership is united behind Schilling. They are sticking by their top candidate, who only recently switched from climate activism to politics. However, the Greens made several gaffes at a press conference. Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler, for example, described the reporting as “farting” and “mumbling”. The accusations against Schilling, on the other hand, were not denied. “The crisis management was pretty much the worst that has been seen in Austria for a long time”, says Hajek. However, surveys conducted by his opinion research institute show “that the Greens have not lost that much ground.” They have a stable voter base, but could lose their third mandate to the NEOS.
Immediately after the election, the member states will once again deal with the most controversial dossier of the Green Deal. The Belgian Council Presidency is making one more attempt to get the renaturation law over the finishing line after all. At the Environment Council on June 17, the member states are to hold a final vote. Parliament has already formally waved the trilogue result through, so all that is missing is the approval of the ministers.
Just a few days later, climate action should have been high on the agenda again – at the EU summit on June 27-28. There, the heads of state and government will agree on the strategic agenda – i.e. the direction and goals of the EU member states for the next five years. It was debated whether the member states would agree on their own position on the EU’s 2040 climate target at this point. In all likelihood, they will not, as unanimity is required. The member states have not yet been able to agree on the Commission’s proposal of a 90 percent reduction in CO2 compared to 1990, nor on a lower target or a target corridor.
The German government does not yet have a united position on the EU’s 2040 climate target either, although Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) demonstratively backed the Commission’s proposal at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin at the end of April. Insiders from Brussels report that the upcoming Hungarian Council Presidency wants to put the issue on the table at the EU summit in December.
By spring 2025 at the latest, the EU member states will also have to submit their climate target for 2035 (NDC) to the United Nations. In theory, a qualified majority in the Council of Ministers is sufficient for this. In EU logic, however, a target for 2040 must first be set, from which the target for 2035 emerges, which further complicates the process. In the weeks and months following the European elections, the focus will, therefore, be more on the more fundamental climate policy lines than on regulatory activities.
Unless the new Commission gives in to pressure from the EPP and reintroduces the CO2 fleet limits for cars from the Fit for 55 package in order to reverse the phase-out of combustion engines. This is not particularly likely as long as Ursula von der Leyen remains in office. Nevertheless, the remaining German Christian Democrats, in particular, are serious about their desire to be able to continue allowing new combustion engines after 2035.
The Hungarian Council Presidency, which is not very well-versed in climate policy, will be very cautious in the second half of the year. On the one hand, because no new proposals are expected from the Commission. Secondly, because it will not set its priorities in climate policy.
A new legislative package to implement the climate target is not planned until 2026. Unlike the Fit for 55 package for the 2030 climate target, it will contain fewer new measures, but rather align existing measures with the potential increase in ambition. For example, the European Emissions Trading System for Energy and Industry (ETS 1) could be extended to other industrial sectors. The focus is on the agricultural and food sectors. Solutions are also needed for the integration of natural carbon sinks (carbon farming) and technical CO2 removal (direct air capture), which will play a role in the 2040 climate target.
Some of these measures are likely to be implemented as part of the regular legislative revisions due in 2026 or 2027. These include the ETS and the carbon border adjustment mechanism CBAM, but also the Common Agricultural Policy. Initial proposals for the CAP after 2027 are expected in the coming year.
The question of how to finance the energy and industrial turnaround will also arise in the coming years. The pandemic recovery fund expires at the end of 2026 and public funds will also be kept tighter again due to the new EU debt rules. A central concern of the EU Commission and some member state governments is therefore the deepening of the Capital Markets Union. This should ensure that European companies have easier access to funding to invest in their growth.
However, national hurdles could continue to stand in the way of this goal. Even if the Capital Markets Union comes to fruition, there is no guarantee that the additional capital will flow into climate-friendly measures. The EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the period from 2028 to 2034 offers another opportunity for more funding. The first proposal for this is due in mid-2025. With János Ammann
For far too long, Latin America was seen as the backyard of the USA, but Brazil has a lot to offer, says Cesar Cunha Campos: “Brazil is often underestimated, although in reality it is a diverse country with significant technological and energy resources.”
As Managing Director of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), he has been committed to Brazil’s development since 2003. Until 2018, he headed the technical consulting unit FGV Projetos with over 300 experts from the fields of economics, finance, management and politics. There, the engineer developed projects for leading Brazilian companies in the public and private sectors, including feasibility studies to raise funds from major banks and development agencies. He has also represented FGV as a knowledge partner of the OECD since 2010.
As Brazil’s leading educational and research institution, the FGV plays an important role in the country’s academic world and influences political and economic events, according to the 68-year-old. The Brazilian foundation has its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro and is represented in all of the country’s major cities with over 4,000 employees. To strengthen its international presence, particularly in Europe, Campos came to Cologne with FGV Europe in 2016. At that time, the city provided the foundation with premises in the Messe building for its first international office worldwide.
Campos holds a degree in civil engineering from the Pontificia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro and a Master’s degree in business administration from London Business School. He received his doctorate in transportation planning from the Technical University of Vienna and initially worked as an engineer in Brazil’s transportation sector.
Cesar Cunha Campos was responsible for setting up and managing the first international FGV office, building international relationships with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors and developing international studies and projects. He describes FGV Europe as a think tank with the main objective of positioning Brazil more internationally. The institution shares the FGV’s expertise on Brazil through research, projects, technical support, seminars and publications. According to Campos, it is not primarily about profit, but rather about exchanging expertise and promoting cooperation between Brazil and Europe to enrich both sides.
Not only because Brazilian culture is closely linked to European culture, but also to promote and educate mutual understanding: “Brazil is big, but people think it’s an island.” On the other hand, the mediation function also plays an important role in the transfer of knowledge about the structures and functions of the European Union in order to ensure that the EU is better understood in Latin America.
Cesar Cunha Campos sees the biggest differences between Germany and Brazil in the bureaucracy. While his Brazilian colleagues sometimes struggle with this, the Brazilian himself finds it easy to empathize with the German mentality. He is structured, never loses track of things and plans carefully. An advantage for his mediating position and possibly due to his German family background, he says. Campos has been commuting between Cologne and Berlin since last year. The foundation has also opened an office in the capital. This makes it easier to maintain links with the German government.
Brazil is making progress in green energy, sustainable resource extraction and agriculture in particular, according to Campos. “President Lula is striving to establish Brazil as a leading power in the global South alongside India and China.” The upcoming G20 presidency and the COP30 conference in 2025 would provide Brazil with ‘golden opportunities’ to demonstrate the country’s leadership qualities. A closer partnership between Germany and Brazil would be extremely beneficial for both sides.
The Mercosur free trade agreement would create one of the world’s largest free trade zones with more than 700 million inhabitants. This is of great importance for Latin America, but even more so for the EU, which is drastically losing economic power and whose share of global economic output is continuously falling. Germany, an export nation, is suffering the most from these trends. This free trade agreement was therefore urgently needed and it was regrettable that the negotiations had lasted twenty years without concluding.
Overall, he describes Brazil’s relations with the EU as positive and growing. The challenge lies not in the people, but in the geographical distance, as Germany is closer to China than Brazil, for example. In the future, he wants to expand academic cooperation with universities in the EU, particularly in Eastern Europe. “The big universities have a great interest in becoming more international, and that suits us as FGV very well.” He has just been to Charles University in Prague and Mendel University in Brno, where there is great interest in cooperation. Sarah Birkhäuser
