Barely a week goes by where there is not another “Make Europe Great Again” event somewhere on the old continent. I just recently participated in one taking place in the European Parliament in Brussels, and yet another one is coming up in Madrid in just a few days. I am generally sympathetic to these gatherings, and I enjoy the vibe shift spilling over from the US as much as any right-of-centre commentator on this side of the Atlantic. But vibes alone will not make Europe great or, for that matter, save it. Donald Trump was elected to be president of the United States, and while he has a soft spot for some European leaders like Italy’s Giorgia Meloni or Hungary’s Viktor Orbán his priority is and will remain America first. The hopes that Donald Trump will save Europe from itself are misguided, and while he certainly would like a strong partner he is not going to do our work for us.
Europe’s right-wing movements need to come to bold decisions about what they want the EU and future relations between European states to look like, and despite the occasional regional victory in Italy, Austria, Hungary, or the Czech Republic there is still a dearth of a cohesive right-wing vision. To be clear, by right-wing I do not meant the lukewarm conservatism of the European People’s Party and their faux conservative leaders like Manfred Weber or Ursula von der Leyen. These people share more in common with the Greens than genuine conservatives, and they have carried out every left-wing lunacy from “Green Deals” to open borders. Yes, yes, in recent weeks there has been some back peddling: The Green Deal should be postponed and maybe borders are not such a bad idea after all. It only took a prolonged economic recession and weekly stabbings by illegal immigrants in Germany.
This all sounds well, but well-sounding proposals have been the only thing emanating from Brussels for almost three decades: For nearly three decades, the European Union has been drafting strategies to enhance its role as a significant player on the global stage. This endeavour began with the Lisbon Strategy in 2000, which aimed to transform the EU into “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion” within a decade. However, when these ambitious targets were not met, the Lisbon Strategy was succeeded by the “Europe 2020 Strategy,” which aimed for “smart, sustainable, inclusive growth.” Yet again, after another decade of unmet goals, 2025 will introduce a new strategy, the “Competitiveness Compass.” Unfortunately, this compass will end up leading to nowhere just like the previous strategies.
Europe needs a comprehensive vision that goes beyond sloganeering. One of the reasons why Donald Trump is appearing like a force of nature at the moment is because everything was prepared before he came to power, and now he is executing a transformative programme one step at a time. Does anyone – Left or Right – have a similar program for the EU? As tempting as it might seem, leaving the EU is not preferable to reforming it, and while the former sounds easy, the latter is necessary. The common market and the harmonisation of bureaucratic procedures from Poland to Portugal are crucial elements for true competitiveness, and if we want to be on par with China and the US successful entrepreneurs should find similar conditions all across the continent, conditions that make business easier and not more difficult.
At the moment, unfortunately, the European Union is appearing to make things harder, not easier. Frustration with Brussels is therefore more than justified, but I do not believe that these dysfunctional policies like banning the internal combustion engine, carbon border adjustment mechanisms, or the war against farmers cannot be reversed. The EU is a mighty institution captured by the wrong ideology. Imagine for a second the leadership in Brussels would devise policies supporting businesses (less bureaucracy), energy production (nuclear and fracking), transportation (making flights and train journeys cheaper, not more expensive), and real protection of external borders. Instead, the Brussels bureaucracy picks petty fights with member states, banning students in Hungary from participating in the Erasmus programme because Budapest does not toe the ideological line of left-liberal elites.
Donald Trump did not form his own party, but the took over the Republican party and reshaped it into a powerful tool for reforming and reinventing the United States. Instead of railing against Brussels, Europe’s populists should try to do the same with the European Union. Alas, supposedly like-minded movements could not even agree on forming a single parliamentary group in the European Parliament because the Romanian Right does not like the Hungarian Right and the French Right thinks the German Right is too radical. This kind of infighting is the equivalent of what happened to President Trump during his first administration, but now he has managed to get everyone on the same page. Does the entire Republican Party agree with him on everything? Of course not, but they have the bigger picture in mind and act accordingly. By the same token, I do not expect the French National Rally to agree with the Alternative for Germany on everything, but I would have hoped that they could cooperate given the existential crisis Europe finds itself in.
Europe is a unique place, that historically has thrived the most when it simultaneously had strong independent states that nonetheless allowed for unprecedented economic and intellectual exchange between the citizens of these states. A strategy for the 21st century must capitalize on this historical experience that once made Europe the most powerful and prosperous place on earth. I understand the desire to throw off the “yoke of Brussels” but would caution against giving up on the EU completely. There is the need for a platform on which a modern “concert of Europe” can take place, and while the current EU is not fulfilling this role, a reformed one could. What these reforms could and should be is an urgent matter, and the lack of proposals is worrisome. I am glad the vibe has shifted, but at some point policy needs to follow.
Immigration: the American state comes first, no more ‘pathololgical altruism’