The author addresses an issue that is currently the subject of considerable debate among the Old Continent’s 450 million citizens: how can Europe’s economic area be transformed into a technological, industrial and political power? The challenge is all the greater given how much the global environment has changed since the 2000s: to the east, with China’s technological take-off; to the west, with the resurgence of nationalism in the United States; and to the south, with the emergence of the “Global South.” The European Union faces multiple disadvantages as a result of divisions among its members over defence, energy, industrial and financial policies. This lack of unity prevents Europeans from building lasting competitive advantages based on control over entire value chains, particularly in the energy, automotive, pharmaceutical and digital sectors. The Union is reduced to little more than a single market, with varying degrees of integration across different activities. European institutions content themselves with issuing directives, charters, recommendations and standards that primarily regulate the distribution and consumption of goods and services.
To counter this drift, Michel Doumont identifies three main priorities. The first is to reform the institutions (the Council, Parliament and Commission) so that they can take more consistent and timely decisions in response to external threats. The second is to equip Europe’s 34 million businesses with a skilled and motivated workforce, appropriate financing, preferential access to public procurement, reliable infrastructure and efficient logistical support. The third is to implement a genuine industrial policy at the European level, promoting innovative businesses, protecting viable but vulnerable companies against unfair foreign competition, and integrating strategic industrial value chains. Meeting these three conditions should enable the European Union to safeguard its independence and preserve its sovereignty.
Michel Doumont is a Belgian specialist in European institutions and financial systems. Through his book, he expresses the aspiration of one of the founding countries of the European Economic Community to transform it into a genuine European Union.
Jean-Jacques Pluchart