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.
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.
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.
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.
