Speech · Administration
Helberg in Brussels: a strong Europe is a stronger West.
The Under Secretary presses Europe on regulation, energy, and reindustrialization, framing the allied West as a single industrial base or none at all.
You cannot regulate your way to greatness. You can, however, regulate your way out of it. We want to work together on AI, on advanced manufacturing, on supply chain security. A strong Europe is a stronger West. A stronger West is a more stable, more prosperous, more free world.
The Brussels speech applies the doctrine''s allied-terrain logic to Europe directly. The argument that every regulatory penalty on a U.S. technology company is a fine on European workers is the "rules capital can read" principle stated from the outside in.
Helberg is asking Europe to do the work the doctrine asks every host country to do. Reduce friction. Lower energy prices. Make the rule set legible. The sovereign-partner side of the bargain is not a U.S. gift. It is a bilateral obligation, and the Brussels speech is the moment the bargain gets articulated to the partner whose participation matters most.