GEAB 187

As the European Union struggles to adapt to the realities of a multipolar world, a new intergovernmental structure is emerging, the European Political Community (EPC). More agile and flexible, it could redefine the framework of European cooperation and meet tomorrow’s economic, geopolitical and security challenges.

The European Union is facing a double failure: it can neither resolve the economic crises it has been facing for years, nor become a vehicle for peace on the continent. This double failure can only hasten its downfall… or its reinvention. Our team anticipates that it will be the nation-states that will regain control of an enlarged Europe through the European Political Community, which now comprises well over 27 members, and reintegrates the United Kingdom. This intergovernmental body will be far nimbler and more adaptable and will enable Europe to take its place in the multipolar world.

Europe in crisis, EU outdated, member states back in control

In the previous two articles, we described a sclerotic EU, incapable of acting. The reason for this is the extremely ambitious yet ultimately incomplete legal construction of its institutions. Over the years, the supranational European level has acquired extraordinary powers, notably in terms of controlling (or rather, failing to control…) cross-border trade and currency. At the same time, this political project has rapidly spread across the continent. All the while, it sought to preserve the sovereignty of individual states, both in appearance and in practice. The result is an extremely complex edifice in which 27 countries with divergent interests are intertwined and cannot take structuring decisions without the agreement of one another, or without having a significant impact on the others.