2023-08-09 18:48:02
Beyond economic questions, the European Union could seem inert. But the recent crises have forced her to act and come out of a form of naivety.
“Europe, what is its telephone number?” This joke by Henri Kissinger, the head of American diplomacy in the 1970s, showed the extent to which Europeans were seen as divided, barely audible, uncoordinated. National selfishness, bureaucracy, slow decision-making: it is true that the portrait was not completely unfounded.
A geopolitical power
However, the crises of recent years have woken up the European Union. It took the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine for the EU to realize this: it is not only a large market, it is also a geopolitical power. For the first time, two years ago, the European Union borrowed on the markets to finance the post-covid recovery plan. A common loan, in the name of the 27, in order to avoid “every man for himself”.
With the war in Ukraine, Europe agreed on sanctions against Russia. Even if the sending of armament remained the prerogative of each State. A European awakening also in the economic field. Faced with Joe Biden’s plan, which subsidizes the green industries setting up in North America with billions of dollars, Europe has reacted. It has also put in place a support plan, to prevent companies from fleeing to the other side of the Atlantic.
Even if all the countries do not have the same vision, France is more focused on public spending than the Netherlands for example, the 27 have become aware of their common interest, including in the face of an ally like the United States. United.
The weakness of tools against foreign powers
Of course, Europe has not completely overcome its naivety, or its weakness. There is still a long way to go. Firstly because the national cultures are different, the parties in power too, throughout Europe. On the question of defence, for example, France and Germany see things very differently. Paris wants to set up an autonomous defense policy, eventually with armaments 100% manufactured in Europe. Berlin, for its part, does not want to give up the protection of the United States. Moreover, the anti-missile defense program envisaged by Germany and several countries of Eastern Europe would be designed with American and Israeli equipment.
The so-called Qatargate scandal in the European Parliament, this alleged network of corruption and influence investigated by European police, also shows European fragility. Within the institutions of Brussels, the tools of control, intelligence, sanctions are still too weak against foreign powers which want to influence the decisions of the European Union.
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