Europe (and yes, that includes Britain) can still be a superpower | Timothy Garton Ash

The key to European power projection isn’t institutional reform, it’s a shift in attitude and a willingness to cooperate

As a European leader once remarked, Europe should be a superpower, not a superstate. Faced with an increasingly powerful and authoritarian China, global heating, the challenge of AI, not to mention an aggressive Russia, chaotic Middle East and Trumpian United States, this argument is more compelling than ever. In a world of giants, you need to be a giant yourself. If we Europeans don’t hang together, we will hang separately.

Most Europeans agree with this simple proposition. Indeed, this is one of the big things they want the European Union to do. But is Europe up to the job? The answer is not a simple yes or no. It depends what dimension of power we are talking about. In trade negotiations, the EU, which represents the biggest and richest multinational single market in the world through a single negotiator, is already a superpower. It has made trade deals with major economies, such as Canada and Japan, of which Brexit Britain can only dream.

I don’t think it’s likely Europe will get its act together in this way. My point is that it is still possible

Related: What has the EU been up to in the run-up to Brexit? | Q&A

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