Summary
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron held a call to discuss the potential implications of Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency for Europe.
The leaders pledged to strengthen cooperation for a “more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe” in light of this possibility. Macron emphasized a commitment to European sovereignty while maintaining cooperation with the U.S. Additionally, German and French defense ministers plan to meet to coordinate on defense policies.
Trump’s ambiguous stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine and his critical view of NATO burden-sharing raise concerns in Europe about future U.S.-Europe relations.
The EU needs a centralized military if it wants to survive
Maybe they need it, but that may not be happening. Over the past decade, Europe has been moving decisively to the right, just like the US is doing, which means less internal European cooperation and a further move toward sovereign nation states. The EU will maybe be able to maintain the overall trade cooperation among countries, but there’s very little chance of further European integration in other policy areas as it stands. Even the Schengen open-border cooperation is hanging by a thread.
Then the EU will fall and Europe will plunge into a new era of uncertainty and war
That’s basically what all our history is anyway
Yeah, it’s also exactly what the EU and it’s predecessors exist to prevent. We’ve never had a period of prolonged peace in Europe like we have now. And these utter fucking slabs want to undo it.
And then Putin can conquer them all…
Yes, which is why I do think the foundational trade framework will remain and possibly strengthen. That’s what originally created the EU and ended many of the conflicts.
What I don’t see happening much going forward is countries giving up sovereignty on things like immigration and judicial issues or social and cultural issues. I also think stuff like a banking union and further economic integration are hanging by a thin, thin thread. There are simply too much disagreement and too many differences in how the economies work. It’s not like states within the US at all.