Concilium Insights 2026
Panel I: Europe at an Inflection Point
For multinational companies, Europe should no longer be viewed simply as a mature and predictable market governed by a stable set of commercial and regulatory assumptions. Security, industrial policy, procurement, trade, technology, energy, and regulation are increasingly being used together to shape economic outcomes and reduce strategic dependencies. At the same time, Europe faces a different but equally important challenge: whether its institutions can translate ambitious policy goals into investment, innovation, and execution.
The contributions in this section examine that shift from several market perspectives. They explore the growing importance of security and state-directed investment; the use of regulation and market access as instruments of economic strategy; the increasing value of resilience, localization, and demonstrable corporate capability; and the tension between Europe’s institutional strengths and its ability to act with sufficient speed. They also identify significant opportunities arising from these shifts, including in defense, energy, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, technology, and critical supply chains. The articles also underscore that there is no single European experience. Political risk, institutional capacity, regulatory priorities, and commercial opportunity continue to vary considerably across jurisdictions.
Europe has not become uniformly more difficult or less attractive — but the operating assumptions have changed. Companies that treat Europe principally as a compliance/ regulatory problem may miss both emerging risks and strategic opportunities. The panel discussion will therefore focus on a more practical question: What should multinational companies do differently as Europe enters this next phase? That includes where they invest, how they structure transactions and supply chains, what capabilities they localize, how they demonstrate resilience and trusted conduct, and how early legal and compliance leaders become involved in strategic business decisions.
Europe Is Rewriting the Rules: What U.S. Companies Must Do Next
Can Europe Still Turn Strength into Action?
Europe at an Inflection Point – Regulation, Trade, Strategic Risk, and Opportunity
Rules Expire, Evidence Travels: Rethinking Britain as a Route into Europe
2026 Concilium Insights – Panel II: Operating in Conflict Zones
Operating in or around a conflict-affected market forces companies to make decisions in circumstances where legal requirements, operational realities, security concerns, ethical expectations, and reputational considerations may point in different directions. Traditional compliance frameworks remain essential, but they are often only one component of a much broader assessment involving personnel safety, sanctions, supply chains, counterparties, government instability, contractual enforceability, and board-level risk tolerance.
The contributions in this section bring together practitioners working in markets affected by armed conflict, political instability, regional security threats, cartel influence, and other forms of acute geopolitical risk. Their perspectives demonstrate that “conflict-zone risk” is not a single legal category and cannot be addressed through a standardized checklist. The relevant conditions, opportunities, and limits of mitigation differ substantially by jurisdiction.
At the same time, these markets may present legitimate commercial opportunities involving reconstruction, infrastructure, logistics, energy, natural resources, and distressed or undervalued assets. The central challenge is determining when risk can be responsibly managed and when it cannot. This panel will examine what meaningful diligence and governance look like under real operating pressure, which risks sophisticated companies still underestimate, and when a board should conclude that even a legally permissible opportunity is not responsibly actionable.
Operating in Cartel-Influenced Markets: A Practitioner’s Frank Assessment from Colombia
Operating in Conflict Zones: Israel as a Test of Resilience
Approaching a Small Economy in European Union With a Geopolitical Risk