What Role for Europe in the New World Order? A Third Player Empowered by Green Productivity

Abstract

Europe may emerge from the recent crisis stronger than before, as a player with a more sustainable democratic model than China and fewer political divides than the US. What reports tend to neglect is that Europe is currently the largest economic region, leading in exports, foreign direct investment, and most indicators on Sustainable Development. A reason for this downplaying is that Europe is seen as continent consisting of individual small and big countries and not as a political or economic whole. The paper takes an alternative position and carves out conditions for closing divides, to make existing European strengths more visible and extend the quality lead. The Recovery and Resilience Facility as well as the Multiannual Financial Framework must be used for reforms and coherence. A rebounding Europe requires a double strategy of fostering innovation while redirecting productivity towards energy and resource saving, away from its current priority on labour efficiency. This would empower Europe to be a quality player in a multipolar world in which there are no longer only two superpowers, China and the US, competing for attention.