How can the EU be a world power?

The European elections have gone better than we expected, the pro-European camp came out as winners in front of inter-governmentalists and anti-Europeans. Over the next 5 years, we will have peace, but the moment 2024 must be looked at carefully from now on. Citizens came to vote but now they want to see concrete results: a European project and capable leaders, seriously tackling climate change, with social justice as a priority, and strong European industry with SMEs and European industrial champions.

Caught in the nomination of the future EU leaders, few can explain the geopolitical changes that have taken place the past five years and how the European Union should approach the next period.

Some remarks:

Ø  Brexit is actually a passage of Great Britain from the European camp to the transatlantic one. The United States and the United Kingdom (together with its former colonies) could unite the first world economic and military power.

Ø  China is already strong economic power and time is playing in its favor, leaving other powers to erode.

Ø  Russia has a strong army, and it is in their interest to develop their economy particularly through the smart use of its natural resources.

Now when you look retrospectively at the European Union, you can see that its construction, which only started in the 1950s, has good results. The daring project of the European reunion that started in 1989 has been successful. The loss of British territory is a sad fact, and in order to successfully face globalization EU enlargement must continue to the Western Balkans and, why not, to the East if that is possible.

The European Union has a historic chance to expand its influx into other territories, consolidating its role as a world power. Africa is the continent that awaits a rapprochement to Europe, but not within a development policy. The true way forward is by launching a Marshall Plan for Africa, as some politicians have recently said. The EU's defense policy needs to be developed and expanded even on the African continent. We certainly need a Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for European Defense, but also for Africa.

Dan LUCA / Brussels