The recent negotiations in Brussels over the European Union’s decarbonization goals have triggered a familiar pattern of commentary: “Europe has watered down its climate ambitions. Full decarbonization by 2050 is slipping away.” Headlines like that play well to an audience already weary of policy drama. But they miss a crucial point: what has changed is not the end goal, but the path to get there. And that shift, far from representing defeat, may be the most strategically astute approach Europe has yet adopted. What opponents…