Plan B at a glance.
Plan B for Europe offers a pragmatic, efficiency-first path to industrial and energy resilience. Instead of relying on high-risk, long-horizon green technologies, it focuses on immediate, cost-effective improvements in energy-intensive industries and infrastructure. By modernizing existing capacities—particularly in sectors like steel, cement, chemicals, and energy distribution—it reduces dependency, strengthens competitiveness, and supports regional cohesion. Plan B is not an alternative to sustainability goals, but the only realistic way to achieve them in time.
Strategic Priorities at a Glance
Prioritise Energy Efficiency — Focus decarbonization on reducing energy consumption in energy-intensive industries (EIIs) together with adopting high-risk technologies.
Modernise Infrastructure — Upgrade core systems—power grids, heating, water, and waste—to reduce losses, boost efficiency, and improve resilience.
Rebuild Industrial Competitiveness — Align tech-first green ambitions with a robust focus on energy efficiency and existing industrial strengths.
Reinforce Supply Chain Sovereignty — Reduce reliance on external suppliers (e.g., China) through localised production and industrial modernisation.
Strengthen Economic Stability — Use targeted, lower-cost investments to deliver faster returns, improve fiscal sustainability, and create regional jobs.
Address Geopolitical Risk — Position Europe to navigate U.S.–EU trade tensions and future-proof its industrial base in a shifting global order.
Bridge Sustainability with Realism — Offer an actionable path aligned with EU climate goals—without speculative bets, unrealistic assumptions, or new dependencies.
Plan B's key pillars.
GARI presents a pragmatic and cautious “Plan B for Europe”, acknowledging the EU’s structural constraints and offering a gradual, realistic pathway forward. The plan prioritizes energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries, a sector capable of delivering immediate and tangible results while addressing Europe’s fundamental vulnerabilities. It focuses on precision manufacturing and infrastructure modernization, advocating for a robust incentive plan and carefully selected regulations in energy efficiency, workforce reskilling, and investments in core and critical infrastructure. The goal of these measures is to balance external dependencies, competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and social cohesion in a way that is realistic, organic, and capable of delivering results within a sufficiently short timeframe—without succumbing to the pitfalls of overly ambitious but unattainable goals.
Key Pillars
Energy Efficiency: Targeting energy-intensive industries that have been overlooked in previous strategies, with the goal of achieving immediate gains, reducing emissions, and increasing competitiveness without exacerbating reliance on external supply chains.
Infrastructure Modernization: Addressing deficiencies in water distribution, waste management, district heating systems, and transmission networks to improve quality of life and economic resilience at both national and regional levels.
Incremental Innovation: Building on existing industrial strengths through workforce reskilling and localised research and development, ensuring stability throughout the transition.
Ultimately, this analysis calls for a paradigm shift in how the EU approaches its strategic challenges. Breaking the blind cycle of excessive promises and insufficient results requires a focus on resilience and pragmatism. Only by confronting its internal contradictions and adopting a realistic vision can Europe navigate the complexity and upheavals of the 21st century and secure its place in the unstable global (dis)order.
Plan B's key priorities.
GARI presents a pragmatic and cautious “Plan B for Europe”, acknowledging the EU’s structural constraints and offering a gradual, realistic pathway forward. The plan prioritizes energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries, a sector capable of delivering immediate and tangible results while addressing Europe’s fundamental vulnerabilities. It focuses on precision manufacturing and infrastructure modernization, advocating for a robust incentive plan and carefully selected regulations in energy efficiency, workforce reskilling, and investments in core and critical infrastructure. The goal of these measures is to balance external dependencies, competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and social cohesion in a way that is realistic, organic, and capable of delivering results within a sufficiently short timeframe—without succumbing to the pitfalls of overly ambitious but unattainable goals.
Plan B's key pillars.
GARI presents a pragmatic and cautious “Plan B for Europe”, acknowledging the EU’s structural constraints and offering a gradual, realistic pathway forward. The plan prioritizes energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries, a sector capable of delivering immediate and tangible results while addressing Europe’s fundamental vulnerabilities. It focuses on precision manufacturing and infrastructure modernization, advocating for a robust incentive plan and carefully selected regulations in energy efficiency, workforce reskilling, and investments in core and critical infrastructure. The goal of these measures is to balance external dependencies, competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and social cohesion in a way that is realistic, organic, and capable of delivering results within a sufficiently short timeframe—without succumbing to the pitfalls of overly ambitious but unattainable goals.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY FIRST
Focuses on reducing industrial energy consumption before committing to leap-frog green technologies.
Supports cost-effective, measurable improvements in energy-intensive industries (EIIs) such as steel, cement, and chemicals.
INFRASTRUCTURE MODERNISATION
Upgrades power grids, district heating, and water systems to reduce losses and improve efficiency.
Encourages localised industrial modernisation to reduce external dependencies.
ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESILIENCE
Shifts focus from technology-first decarbonization to efficiency-driven competitiveness.
Supports domestic production capabilities instead of reinforcing dependence on foreign supply chains (e.g., Chinese solar panels and batteries).
GEOPOLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Suggests leveraging industrial policy to navigate transatlantic tensions.
Acknowledges that securing political consensus in the EU is difficult, but Central Europe, including Germany, has a vital interest in pursuing this approach.
A PRAGMATIC ALTERNATIVE TO EXISTING EU STRATEGY
Avoids the pitfalls of speculative, high-risk investments.
Provides a credible path to energy security, economic stability, and industrial competitiveness.
Represents a necessary course correction for Europe's long-term sustainability and autonomy.
Summary of Plan B For Europe
- A Pragmatic Approach
"Plan B: for Europe" does not represent a departure from global climate ambitions, but rather a cautious recalibration focused on economic and industrial resilience while maintaining sustainability goals. By prioritizing energy efficiency, workforce resilience, and infrastructure modernization, it offers a pragmatic and achievable alternative to current EU strategies, which often rely on overly ambitious and speculative technological transitions. Instead of committing unprecedented financial resources to high-risk green technologies, Plan B redirects investment toward efficiency improvements in existing industrial sectors, ensuring that decarbonization efforts are cost-effective, scalable, and aligned with economic competitiveness.
A key element of this strategy is reducing Europe’s dependence on external supply chains, particularly in energy-intensive industries (EIIs) and critical raw materials (CRM). Instead of reinforcing vulnerabilities by outsourcing industrial production and relying on China for renewable energy components, Plan B encourages localized industrial modernization to strengthen domestic production capabilities. This includes energy infrastructure upgrades, digital integration of industrial sectors, and regulatory reforms that support efficiency-driven innovation.
Given the geopolitical uncertainties ahead, particularly with the return of Donald Trump and the likelihood of trade conflicts, the EU will need to navigate transatlantic relations carefully. One hypothetical tactical option (though not highly realistic under the current European Commission) would be for the EU to find internal consensus on a pro-industrial approach, while presenting this shift as an alignment with Trump’s economic logic. In his transactional worldview, this would be a political win, while simultaneously allowing the EU to strengthen its industrial base.
Ultimately, Plan B represents a necessary course correction, prioritizing economic and industrial realism over speculative policies. By focusing on efficiency, resilience, and strategic autonomy, it provides a credible and achievable alternative to the EU’s current industrial and energy strategies.
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