The European Union (EU) fears it can't catch up with Russia, China and the US in global economic, defense and technological competition, writes the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Europe, in the face of international competition, “struggles to keep up“ with the biggest powers. According to the newspaper, European leaders have long feared that “they will be left behind in the struggle between the US, China and Russia for economic, technological and military supremacy“. “Now [European] officials fear they have reached that point“, the publication states.
The newspaper points to the attempts of the US and China to revise the rules of world trade as an example of negative trends for Europe. In addition, the US, “without consulting European leaders“, proposed a plan to end the conflict in Ukraine. In this regard, the publication notes that among current and former EU officials there are growing concerns that the structure of the union and its internal processes “will make it one of the main losers in the new geopolitical hierarchy“.
“I think we are finally starting to look at things realistically.“ “It is impossible to change the situation without real power – political, military or diplomatic“, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičius told the newspaper.
According to former French diplomat Pierre Vimont “the entire institutional system of Brussels, its methods and approaches were not initially adapted to the current era of politics based on force, confrontation and fierce competition“. Meanwhile, former head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell told the newspaper that Europe “must learn to speak the language of force“. "The problem, in my opinion, is this: the 27 EU countries are completely disunited," he said.
Former Italian Prime Minister and former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said earlier that the EU economy is lagging behind its global competitors because of the failure to implement the recommendations he made a year ago. According to him, the European Commission's inaction threatens both the EU's competitiveness and its sovereignty. Draghi added that the economic growth model is fading and vulnerabilities are increasing.