EU in search of leadership
Europe urgently needs leadership. It has leaders but they cannot pull the European Union in the direction of progress. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni can’t do it, nor can various leaders in the north who want to push events to the extremes vis-a-vis Russia.
Europe’s leadership, traditionally and reasonably, comes from Paris and Berlin. In France, we have a dynamic president with lots of bold ideas on what needs to change. The dogma of strategic autonomy, for example, is very important and should have already been a part of Europe’s way forward. But Emmanuel Macron has lost control of domestic developments in France and, as a result, his international standing. All the big ideas and statements he makes seem almost comical when set against the extreme polarization and lack of consensus in his own country – with Marine Le Pen just waiting to pounce.
In Germany, meanwhile, we have an invisible chancellor, a politician who weighs every single political risk, no matter how small, and expends all of his energies on negotiations over even the slightest matter with his government partners. We used to accuse Angela Merkel of indecisiveness and of waiting for the outcome of yet another local election before making up her mind on something, but what we’re looking at now is a true leadership quagmire.
Europe needs to change if it hopes to survive in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, dangerous and competitive. It needs to stop being the world’s top regulator in every sector when it comes to the economy, it needs to provide incentives to industry and tech, and it needs, finally, to create a capital markets union. It is also long past its wake-up call in defense, despite the alarm bell that is Donald Trump. And on the matter of irregular migration, it’s simply living in a different world.
What’s the paradox here? The longer the EU doesn’t have powerful leaders who can grab the bull by the horns, the more powerful leaders will emerge on the other side of history, because Europe will get poorer, will shed jobs and will appear defenseless against the escalating threats.
Mario Draghi is expected to deliver his much-anticipated report on the future of the EU sometime soon. It is expected to acknowledge all the major challenges faced by the bloc and recommend radical solutions to them. None of these will be able to go forward, however, if Europe’s most powerful countries don’t have powerful leaders who can convince public opinion of the need for these vital changes and who can push them through.
