HEC in the press

El Mundo reports that France’s mounting debt and budget deficit have prompted fresh warnings from the IMF and OECD, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to restore fiscal credibility ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Olivier Klein, Professor at HEC Paris, argues that the convergence of concerns raised by multiple national and international institutions should be seen as an urgent call to action, warning that while France is not facing a financial crisis today, its current fiscal trajectory is not credible enough to ensure long-term debt sustainability.

In an op-ed published in Forbes, Seungah Sarah Lee, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources at HEC Paris Doha, shows that universities are increasingly acting as strategic global players whose international partnerships, fundraising and governance choices shape their influence beyond education. She argues that internationalisation is no longer limited to student mobility but has become a strategic tool through which universities build talent, research networks and geopolitical soft power.

The Guardian reports that EU member states remain divided over proposals to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, despite mounting legal pressure following the International Court of Justice’s 2024 ruling. Alberto Alemanno, professor of EU law at HEC Paris, warns that every delay in complying with international law increases the EU’s own legal liability by allowing trade linked to an unlawful occupation to continue.

The Financial Times publishes a letter co-signed by Alberto Alemanno, Professor of EU Law at HEC Paris, arguing that Ireland should recuse itself from EU negotiations on digital regulation and corporate taxation during its Council presidency. The signatories contend that Ireland’s role as host to major tech companies and its track record on data protection enforcement and corporate tax practices create conflicts of interest that undermine its credibility in leading these negotiations.

Euronews reports that a leaked European Commission document has revived scrutiny of Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi by confirming that Hungary operated a diplomatic intelligence network targeting EU staff during his tenure as Hungary’s permanent representative. Law professor at HEC Paris Alberto Alemanno argues that the findings call into question Várhelyi’s suitability to serve as a European Commissioner, contending that his lack of independence is incompatible with the standards expected of the role. 

German media taz investigates potential conflicts of interest at the European Court of Justice, revealing that many judges hold financial interests in companies while the court relies largely on self-disclosure to manage potential conflicts. Alberto Alemanno, professor of EU Law at HEC Paris, argues that the system depends almost entirely on judges identifying and reporting their own conflicts, warning that the ECJ falls short of the transparency standards now expected of top courts.

The New York Times highlights how Europe’s latest heat wave is exposing the vulnerability of its infrastructure, from overheated buildings to disrupted nuclear power generation, while revealing the high cost of adapting to a warmer climate. François Gemenne, professor at HEC Paris and climate expert, warns that delaying investment in climate adaptation is a false economy, arguing that governments must commit resources now to avoid far greater costs in the future.

The Economist revisits the debate over whether Europe is truly falling behind the US, showing how different purchasing power parity measures can produce contrasting assessments of economic performance. Antonin Bergeaud, Professor of Economics at HEC Paris, argues that the divergence stems less from flawed data than from the methodological challenges of comparing economies across countries and over time, cautioning against drawing overly simplistic conclusions from GDP rankings.

In an op-ed for Forbes, Assistant Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris Klaus Miller shows that while automatic subscription renewal increases short-term retention, it also deters many consumers from subscribing in the first place. Drawing on a field experiment involving 1.4 million newspaper readers, he argues that auto-cancelling subscriptions can ultimately generate more paying customers and stronger engagement, encouraging firms to assess renewal policies across the entire customer journey rather than through retention metrics alone.

El País tackles the growing power struggle between Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas over the leadership of the EU’s foreign policy, arguing that the dispute is undermining Europe’s diplomatic effectiveness. Alberto Alemanno, law professor at HEC Paris, argues that the tensions reflect a deeper structural flaw in the EU’s institutional architecture, where overlapping responsibilities have long blurred the leadership of foreign policy.