On 17 September 2026, a panel entitled “Europe in the Race for Advantage: The EU’s Strategic Competitiveness in a Changing World” was held at the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The panel was co-organized by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence CEWSE II Project and the PECSA Association. The session was chaired by Dr Aleksandra Borowicz.

The aim of the panel was to examine the strategies, mechanisms, and determinants shaping the European Union’s strategic competitiveness in the context of rapidly evolving economic, technological, and geopolitical conditions. The discussion focused on issues related to industrial policy, energy security, digital transformation, innovation, geopolitical developments, and the EU’s position in the global economy.

Researchers from various academic institutions presented their findings on contemporary challenges facing the European Union:

• Dr Justyna Góral (SGH Warsaw School of Economics) – The Competitiveness of European Agriculture: Selected Aspects and Challenges;
• Dr Aleksandra Adamiszyn-Kontek and M.A. Mikołaj Sokolski (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań) – Peripheral, Yet Central: Latin America as an Arena of Competition Between the European Union, the United States and China;
• Dr Anna Wójtowicz (SGH Warsaw School of Economics) – Energy Transition and the Competitiveness of Energy-Intensive Industries in the European Union;
• Dr Agnieszka Filipiak (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań) – Generative Artificial Intelligence as a Tool for Disinformation Campaigns: Challenges for Democratic Processes, Societal Resilience and European Union Regulation;
• Dr Michał Nowicki (University of Wrocław) – Between an Economic Backwater and a Global Leader: The European Union in Comparison with the United States and China;
• Dr Agnieszka Sołtys (Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences) – The Principle of the Primacy of EU Law over National Law as an Instrument of the Constitutionalisation of EU Law in the Light of Recent Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The presentations and the ensuing discussion highlighted the multidimensional nature of the European Union’s strategic competitiveness, encompassing economic and technological issues as well as legal, social, and geopolitical dimensions. The panel provided a valuable forum for the exchange of knowledge and experiences among researchers representing different academic disciplines and contributed to a deeper reflection on the future of the European Union and its position in a rapidly changing global environment.