The EU as global power: unfulfilled promise

As a global power the EU is practically invisible. The EU lacks a clear and coherent strategy in its foreign policy. As a result the EU fails to grasp the opportunities that present itself on the global stage, to the detriment of both the EU and the wider world. In short, the EU once held and maybe still holds great promise but much of it is left unfulfilled. This was the main tenement of this years' Europe Lecture, with former South African president De Klerk and renowned professor Van Wolferen as the guest speakers.　

De Klerk argued that the more political the issue becomes, the less cohesive the EU operates. The individual member states make up for a diverse set of policies on foreign affairs. As a result, foreign policy lacks clarity. In 2003, then South African president Mbeki was surprised to learn the EU did not have a strategy on Africa at all. Africa deserves to be higher on the agenda, as Africa's potential is enormous. Europe still is one of the premier investors in the continent, a far greater one than China. With the right approach, maybe making a few concessions to common European practice, the opportunities are there for the taking. And Africa will benefit as well - business is the best way to raise the continent out of poverty.

De Klerk noted one particular challenge Europe faces, one of demographics. At current birth rates populations will decline and maintaining current standards of living will become untenable. Migration could prove a solution, but it will change the nature of the continent.　

Van Wolferen proved even more critical. The EU is diplomatically stunted because of two underlying structural problems, both of which have been exacerbated by the euro crisis. The first problem is the Atlanticism practised by the European political elites. All individual member states tune their foreign policy to the premises set out by US foreign policy makers. And the US in turn bullies the European and other countries to follow their lead. During the Cold War this made sense, but US foreign policy is dominated by self-interest, and that interest is inimical to EU interests.

The unbridled advent of neo-liberal economics and the financialisation of capitalism created a second problem: politicians lost their grasp on economic developments. And the current solutions for the crisis are all based on false premises. Most tax money was poured into saving the banks of the northern countries, whose balance sheets needed to be bolstered after investing heavily in bad US assets. Forcing the southern countries to restructure is not the solution, as the southern economies were not the cause of the crisis. According to Van Wolferen this was only possibly because the verage European, and most politicians as well, lack the proper information to act. Politicians will need to better themselves when judging economic ideas.

The Europe Lecture 2013 was a great success, even though the message was a bleak one.