Bratersky Maxim Vladimirovich – Sc.D. in Political Sciences, Leading Researcher, Head of Sector, INION RAS; Professor.
Since 2008, the European Union has faced serious economic difficulties. Some of the causes were external (the global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic), while others were generated internally (for example, the 2009 debt crisis and rising production costs since 2022). Typically, the EU’s economic problems are analyzed in isolation, as a series of unrelated events. Furthermore, this issue is not particularly popular among European experts; it is more often raised by foreigners. The article surveys the general economic trends in the evolution of the European Union, aiming to understand the direction in which the EU is moving as one of the centers of global economic development, and to assess the EU’s potential in competition with other economic and political centers of power. The analysis is complicated by the fact that the EU, despite years of integration efforts, remains heterogeneous. Different regions within the EU have distinct economies and respond to different stimuli. Since the scope of this article does not allow for a detailed examination of the specific economic situations in various regions of the EU, the discussion is necessarily of a general nature. Another issue complicating the analysis is the rapidly changing global political landscape in which Europe’s economy operates, especially since its configuration depends both on Europeans themselves and on several major global players, including the emerging Global South.
European Union, economic development, economic slowdown, sovereignty, competition.
Download text