March 4, 2020
Norbert Röttgen, President of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Bundestag, writes an Opinion in Le Monde where he underlines the importance for the European Union to consolidate itself internally in order to show itself eventually capable to act in matters of foreign policy in the context of enhanced competition between great powers. In this respect, he points to the reinforcement of the euro, or a better coordination of Europe in matters of foreign policy, including a strategy of the 27 Member States vis-à-vis China, notably as an economic and technological space capable to impose itself in the new digital era, for instance in developing the 6G based on the Franco-German tandem.
Norbert Röttgen considers the European Union of the 21st century to have a huge potential, which should be proud of its already achieved objectives and seize the opportunities with confidence. He points, however, to the lack of political will to articulate Europe’s great potential in a strategy, and therefore calls for a closer cooperation between Paris and Berlin.
Similarly, as part of the Hidden Treasures project, we adopt an approach founded on Europe’s strengths, we point to Europe’s challenge to change its governance to make the most of its invaluable wealth and political foundations, and we make recommendations on numerous topics, including innovation and digital technologies (See Hidden Treasures book (2019), Chapters 4 and 10 and the Epilogue).