In Defense of the Idea of Europe
If one takes the findings of the recent US National Security Strategy seriously, Europe is facing its “civilizational erasure.” That strong language demands a response. A commentary by Sylvie Goulard, and Wolfgang Ischinger.
The European project today faces major risks: the military-strategic threat from Russia, the overwhelming economic flood from China, and the strategic-cultural distancing by the United States from the EU, with consequences that are difficult to foresee.
This amplifies existing challenges: without efficient decision-making processes in EU security and foreign policy, we weaken ourselves. Without autonomous defense capabilities and without our own critical financial infrastructure, even the single market is no longer a trump card.
An “unfinished” EU offers third countries the opportunity to divide and blackmail us, as demonstrated by trade negotiations with the US last summer.
A mixture of overregulation in Brussels and nationalism and pettiness of member states has stymied the EU’s economic and technological growth. We have failed to shape our future with the necessary level of ambition and vision.
In view of this troubling diagnosis, the question of how Europe can now assert itself becomes a truly existential one. Chancellor Merz, in his speech before the German Bundestag on May 14, 2025, declared: “Germany will take initiatives to revive the European idea of freedom and peace, so that Europe lives up to its aspiration and its significance in the world.”
He then quoted Helmut Kohl from a 1996 speech: “We must never lose sight of the fact that in Europe, we above all are a community of values and culture.” This short sentence may be a brief response in itself to the challenge provided by the US NSS. Europe is a shared destiny.
We need to preserve our belief in the spirit of European integration, in the historic postwar legacy, to stay true to ourselves.
French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, has repeatedly urged, since his first speech at Humboldt University in Berlin in January 2017 and then in his famed Sorbonne speech in 2017, to lead Europe toward greater self-reliance, toward strategic autonomy, in order to be better able to protect ourselves.
In this dual Merz-Macron approach lies a huge, indeed a historic opportunity. One is tempted to say: if not now, then when will Europe take a decisive step to protect its existence and secure its future?
Two concrete proposals emerge:
First, an initiative is overdue to free the EU’s foreign policy from the lethargy of the unanimity requirement and from national small-mindedness.
If not all of the 27 agree that the time for action is now, a 30-year-old proposal deserves to be revisited: the idea of “Core Europe” developed by Wolfgang Schäuble and Karl Lamers in 1994: A pioneering group that advances integration.
Such a group could, in 2026, succeed in demonstrating that speaking with one voice is possible. That would not only be a powerful signal to Washington, but also exactly the right message to Moscow and Beijing. It could also, especially in the field of technology, promote a new level of cooperation to pool talent and expertise across borders.
The second proposal regards the necessity for Europe to be ready to defend itself, beyond the institutional framework of the EU. Such an arrangement must include the United Kingdom, and more NATO and EU partners who are willing and able to participate and lead in a “Coalition of the Willing”.
Such an informal leadership circle of Europeans could build on the EU-3, or on the group of European leaders assembled in the White House in August.
It would not require institutionalization, but could develop into a stable Contact Group on Ukraine, with the strategic mission of advancing the consolidation of the European defense market.
It is high time to merge the ineffective patchwork of 27 EU member states plus the other European NATO members into a large and globally competitive defense market.
How difficult this is in practice has been shown in recent years by the German-French fighter jet project FCAS. The Airbus model, however, shows that it is possible if there is significant political will driving such consolidation efforts.
In view of certain concerns about Germany’s growing industrial and financial weight in the dynamically developing European defense industry, one is reminded of Thomas Mann, who called for a European Germany instead of a German Europe: the goal remains a united Europe capable of defending itself, with more and more military and political integration, and with a self-sustained and competitive European defense market.
It is time to act, now and swiftly. It would be a thunderclap for Europe and a shot across the bow of the opponents and adversaries of the idea of European integration. We have had a Europe of separate nations. It brought us wars and destruction, and it brought us Verdun and Auschwitz. Never again!
This opinion piece, written by Sylvie Goulard and Wolfgang Ischinger, was published in German in the FAZ and the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore
IEP@BU does not express opinions of its own. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors.
