Europe’s Ambitions vs. Sobering Reality: What the Numbers Reveal
Europe faces a serious decline in global influence as its economic, military, and technological power weakens. On October 16, the Jacques Delors Friends of Europe Foundation organized a conference titled “Europe matters: now or never,” highlighting the European Union’s importance and the urgency of action.
A month prior, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, called for an “Independence moment” for Europe, cautioning:
“Battle lines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now.”
But when the EU examines its position among the dominant global powers—the United States, China, Russia, and India—the reality is striking. In the year marking the centenary of Jacques Delors, a key European visionary, data reveals a clear trend: Europe’s share of global power has been steadily declining and continues to diminish rapidly.
In 1985, when Delors took office as European Commission President, the European Community’s combined Gross National Product was approximately ten times larger than China’s. Today, their economies are nearly equal in size. Projections suggest that within the next 25 years, Europe’s economy will be only half the size of China’s.
Author’s summary: Europe’s influence is rapidly waning as competing global powers like China grow stronger, challenging its longstanding dominance in the world.