Under Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission has moved beyond regulation towards crisis management, industrial strategy and geopolitical coordination. Her vision is of a Europe capable of acting—but its growing executive ambition raises questions about power and accountability.
The People Shaping Europe
The ideas, ambitions and contradictions behind Europe’s institutional leadership
Europe is often described through its institutions: the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank and the growing network of councils, funds and agencies surrounding them.
But institutions do not think by themselves. Within them are people who diagnose Europe’s weaknesses, define what must change and decide which ideas are translated into policies, programmes and financial instruments. Their visions differ. So do their powers, methods and institutional constraints.
Who Is Building Europe? examines the people attempting to give direction to the continent. Each portrait explores how they understand Europe, what they are trying to build, why their ideas attract support—and where their vision encounters criticism, contradiction or resistance.
Together, these portraits reveal Europe not as a finished political project, but as an architecture still being designed.
Christine Lagarde has broadened the language of central banking beyond inflation and interest rates. Her vision reveals Europe’s deeper dilemma: a common currency cannot create economic scale, monetary sovereignty or integrated capital markets without corresponding political architecture.
Michiel Scheffer wants Europe to do more than finance scientific discovery. His vision for the European Innovation Council connects research, patient capital, industrial demand and strategic procurement—turning breakthrough technologies into companies, production capacity and European power.
Maria Luís Albuquerque is trying to connect Europe’s vast household savings with the companies, infrastructure and technologies the continent needs—while navigating fragmented markets, national resistance and the tension between productive investment, financial stability and citizen protection.
Nadia Calviño is turning the EIB Group into Europe’s strategic risk-bearer: financing technologies, infrastructure and defence before private markets are ready, while protecting the AAA rating and public credibility on which its financial power depends.
Jean-Christophe Laloux will take over the European Investment Fund with a clear challenge: turning public risk-sharing into lasting private investment capacity capable of financing Europe’s technology companies, industrial supply chains and energy transition at scale.
Credit
Altair Media / OpenAI
Caption
Who is building Europe? From top left: Ursula von der Leyen, Christine Lagarde and Michiel Scheffer. Below: Maria Luís Albuquerque, Nadia Calviño and Jean-Christophe Laloux.
