11/12/2025
🇪🇺 𝐀 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐬 –– Supply chains are the metabolism of an economy. But how do we keep this metabolism healthy and resilient, especially in a world where geopolitical actors increasingly leverage dependencies in our production networks? 🌍⚙️
🔎 𝐀 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝
Supply chains are not linear chains at all. They are highly interconnected, dynamic networks. Efficiency, innovation, competitiveness and resilience do not emerge at the level of individual firms — they arise from the structure of the network as a whole.
🧩 𝐀 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞?
Technically, we can map these networks today — for example through VAT transaction data. While major global powers (USA, China, UK) and private players (Bloomberg, J.P. Morgan) are already building full-scale supply-chain intelligence systems, Europe still lacks a comparable real-time view of its own economic networks.
The result? Europe risks relying on foreign insights about its own economy — a strategic vulnerability we can no longer afford.
🌐 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥
➡️ Strategic dependencies – who depends on whom, even across multiple tiers
➡️ Systemic risk – which firms represent critical nodes for the whole economy
➡️ Resilience patterns – how shocks propagate and which sectors are most exposed
➡️ Ex-ante simulations – policy options tested in silico before being implemented
🇪🇺 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐬:
1️⃣ At a panel hosted by the Complexity Science Hub and the Supply Chain Intelligence Institute Austria (ASCII) together with the Wirtschaftskammer (WKO), with insights from Georg Konetzky (Federal Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism), Outi Slotboom (DG GROW, European Commission), and Stefan Thurner (CSH & ASCII), followed by a panel discussion with Lukas Mandl (European Parliament), Peter Klimek (ASCII & CSH), Thomas Eibl (WKO), and William Connell Garcia (DG GROW, European Commission).
2️⃣ At a presentation in the European Parliament, discussing the strategy paper by Stefan Thurner and Peter Klimek for the EP: Strategic dependencies, resilience and competitiveness in EU supply chains at the firm level — https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/de/document/ECTI_IDA(2025)779855
3️⃣ On a with Lukas Mandl, which we are already looking forward to listening to here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4fyg2Xh3rFrgjBsCe8Q4TT
🔬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭?
At CSH, we look forward to continuing this crucial conversation. Few topics are as central to Europe’s future competitiveness, sustainability and strategic autonomy as the ability to truly understand and enhance the resilience of our supply networks.
