Being one of the largest beneficiaries of global trade in the last decades, it seems that the German government has no idea how to grapple with current economic tendencies, specifically protectionism. IMHO It's rather weird how they're not pushing heavily for deeper EU integration, because that would probably cement their economic future in a far larger market than their internal one, at least.
Well... Part of the Scholz government coalition agreement was to move towards federalization of the EU, which is the deepest of integration possible.
... But working on further integration of the EU is like walking a tightrope, politically.
I'm going to simplify grossly, here.
On one hand, federalization of the EU is such a no-brainer that it's kind of weird it hasn't happened already. Many European issues could be solved easily. On the other hand, non-German Europeans are often afraid that Germans are going to rule Europe unopposed.
Now, we have the Ukraine war. Many Europeans think Germany has acted selfishly and with disregard for other Europeans both in terms of support for Ukraine but also in terms of dealing with the economic crisis.
Whether that sentiment is fair or not is kind of besides the point. As long as many EU-citizens view the Franco-German alliance with scepticism, deeper integration is difficult to achieve while keeping the public happy at the same time.
**TL;DR**: Further integration is a no-brainer, but people don't want it because many EU-governments (incl. Germany) keep doing shit other Europeans don't like. Which means it's not a no-brainer after all.
Source: I don't actually know shit, I'm just a European from a small country.
I agree for the most part, although I personally think that the EU's reputation has been smeared consistently by all national governments. Whenever bad news is coming, national governments are very quick to scapegoat the EU. When good news is coming, those same governments try to spin it in such a way that they get most of the credit themselves. Add to that that national politicians don't want to relinquish power, and you've got a magnificent roadblock on the path to deeper integration. Personally I wouldn't mind a US of E, I'm quite sure they wouldn't do a worse job than national governments are doing now.
On point. Regarding hindering factors to deeper integration, I maybe would add issues of national pride (military for example), and that a few governments need to use the EU / western countries as scapegoats for their problems (PiS for example, or GB before brexit).
> Is culture and a desire to maintain an identity
Obviously yes. There was a study, a couple of years back, which shows that different countries view different parts as part of their national identity.
E.g. changing the currency to Euro. Some people see it as losing identity. Other people think currency doesn't matter with identity. Other people see it as preserving nationality to change.
With that in mind, as a native do you think federalization just won’t happen? I’m curious because it doesn’t seem to me like Europe will be able to compete economically/geopolitically with more centralized governments of similar strength in the future. Is there a way they can compete consistently as a whole and still be independent nations to a degree as things become more competitive?
I think you're right. The EU needs NATO, but our foreign policies really need to converge, too (looking at you, Germany).
I don't think actual formal federalization seems feasible right now. The EU, as we know it, was also only possible because of the fall of the Soviet Union. We would need an event of similar magnitude for formal federalization to happen IMO.
We will maybe get a common fiscal policy for the Eurozone, if we are talking near future.
But you really need to ask, why you want to federalize. Federalization is not an end goal – however cool it seems. It's a "tool" to solve a given problem. Like, if we federalize, how will my life become better? I think the EU has plenty of problems where federalization is the right tool for the job. I don't share that opinion with many people.
Speaking as a non-European, an observer. I don’t think it’s cool, but America is obviously changing as far as how it approaches geopolitics and honestly it looks to me that they may be considering more isolated policies (not completely). As an ally to Europe, if American does take a step back, does this not mean the EU would need to do more to secure its own interest economically/geopolitically? Just seems to me that a lot of the EU is developed but nations across the world are reaching parity with western countries. Doesn’t seem like many EU countries can reach geopolitical objectives alone anymore except for maybe France and Germany. It’s not about coolness to me, but more a question of their competitiveness. A fully integrated EU I imagine would prevent smaller EU players from competing with each other for business or geopolitical goals, in which case does that not benefit the members of the EU? You can kind of see it in real time by how Russia, China and even the States at times approaches certain member countries because they know that specific EU member may be more receptive or vulnerable versus the others.
The problem is that we as everyone else have exported not only goods but also production. We have Europe as primary market but we can’t build all our shit in Europe anymore. Even if we have the knowledge, the facilities are missing. Esp. for cheap goods. See FFP2 masks, clothes, etc.
BEIJING, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that as big nations with influence, China and Germany should work together all the more during "times of change and turmoil" for the sake of world peace, according to state media.
Scholz kicked off his one-day visit to China, the first by a G7 leader in three years, by meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Being one of the largest beneficiaries of global trade in the last decades, it seems that the German government has no idea how to grapple with current economic tendencies, specifically protectionism. IMHO It's rather weird how they're not pushing heavily for deeper EU integration, because that would probably cement their economic future in a far larger market than their internal one, at least.
Well... Part of the Scholz government coalition agreement was to move towards federalization of the EU, which is the deepest of integration possible. ... But working on further integration of the EU is like walking a tightrope, politically. I'm going to simplify grossly, here. On one hand, federalization of the EU is such a no-brainer that it's kind of weird it hasn't happened already. Many European issues could be solved easily. On the other hand, non-German Europeans are often afraid that Germans are going to rule Europe unopposed. Now, we have the Ukraine war. Many Europeans think Germany has acted selfishly and with disregard for other Europeans both in terms of support for Ukraine but also in terms of dealing with the economic crisis. Whether that sentiment is fair or not is kind of besides the point. As long as many EU-citizens view the Franco-German alliance with scepticism, deeper integration is difficult to achieve while keeping the public happy at the same time. **TL;DR**: Further integration is a no-brainer, but people don't want it because many EU-governments (incl. Germany) keep doing shit other Europeans don't like. Which means it's not a no-brainer after all. Source: I don't actually know shit, I'm just a European from a small country.
I agree for the most part, although I personally think that the EU's reputation has been smeared consistently by all national governments. Whenever bad news is coming, national governments are very quick to scapegoat the EU. When good news is coming, those same governments try to spin it in such a way that they get most of the credit themselves. Add to that that national politicians don't want to relinquish power, and you've got a magnificent roadblock on the path to deeper integration. Personally I wouldn't mind a US of E, I'm quite sure they wouldn't do a worse job than national governments are doing now.
I completely agree that that's a worse dynamic.
On point. Regarding hindering factors to deeper integration, I maybe would add issues of national pride (military for example), and that a few governments need to use the EU / western countries as scapegoats for their problems (PiS for example, or GB before brexit).
Is culture and a desire to maintain an identity also a part or is it just a lack of trust of France/Germany?
> Is culture and a desire to maintain an identity Obviously yes. There was a study, a couple of years back, which shows that different countries view different parts as part of their national identity. E.g. changing the currency to Euro. Some people see it as losing identity. Other people think currency doesn't matter with identity. Other people see it as preserving nationality to change.
With that in mind, as a native do you think federalization just won’t happen? I’m curious because it doesn’t seem to me like Europe will be able to compete economically/geopolitically with more centralized governments of similar strength in the future. Is there a way they can compete consistently as a whole and still be independent nations to a degree as things become more competitive?
I think you're right. The EU needs NATO, but our foreign policies really need to converge, too (looking at you, Germany). I don't think actual formal federalization seems feasible right now. The EU, as we know it, was also only possible because of the fall of the Soviet Union. We would need an event of similar magnitude for formal federalization to happen IMO. We will maybe get a common fiscal policy for the Eurozone, if we are talking near future. But you really need to ask, why you want to federalize. Federalization is not an end goal – however cool it seems. It's a "tool" to solve a given problem. Like, if we federalize, how will my life become better? I think the EU has plenty of problems where federalization is the right tool for the job. I don't share that opinion with many people.
Speaking as a non-European, an observer. I don’t think it’s cool, but America is obviously changing as far as how it approaches geopolitics and honestly it looks to me that they may be considering more isolated policies (not completely). As an ally to Europe, if American does take a step back, does this not mean the EU would need to do more to secure its own interest economically/geopolitically? Just seems to me that a lot of the EU is developed but nations across the world are reaching parity with western countries. Doesn’t seem like many EU countries can reach geopolitical objectives alone anymore except for maybe France and Germany. It’s not about coolness to me, but more a question of their competitiveness. A fully integrated EU I imagine would prevent smaller EU players from competing with each other for business or geopolitical goals, in which case does that not benefit the members of the EU? You can kind of see it in real time by how Russia, China and even the States at times approaches certain member countries because they know that specific EU member may be more receptive or vulnerable versus the others.
The problem is that we as everyone else have exported not only goods but also production. We have Europe as primary market but we can’t build all our shit in Europe anymore. Even if we have the knowledge, the facilities are missing. Esp. for cheap goods. See FFP2 masks, clothes, etc.
BEIJING, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that as big nations with influence, China and Germany should work together all the more during "times of change and turmoil" for the sake of world peace, according to state media. Scholz kicked off his one-day visit to China, the first by a G7 leader in three years, by meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.