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Thirdly, one of the
driving forces behind
these developments and transformations is the integration scale or capacity. This observation is also confirmed by state and non- state actors with the most significant influence in the world of transformation
in which we are living. The drafting of the political agenda is obviously an exercise between economic, military and cultural giants. Everything that took place in economics, trade, and services over the last decade was linked to huge integrated platforms that enhance the global influence of the countries where they have emerged.
If we take only one example, that of artificial intelligence, we see that any expert will immediately state that the main finding resulting from
the race for supremacy in the field is that success depends at first and foremost on the quantity of data (quality
data, of course) that can be subjected to processing, so also a size factor.
In an aggregate projection, Europe, which remains the largest market in the world and a leading commercial actor, with an enormous global force of attraction for its economic and societal model, has seen its weight reduced
by half in a very short time
in the global economy and becomes - collectively - the third (not the second anymore) military power of the world in terms of the funding for the defence sector. The global listing of the aforementioned platforms does not contain European names. Our digital infrastructure comes largely from imports. In the sphere
of military research, Europe spends half as much as China and a seventh of the amounts
allocated by the US to this purpose.
It is clear enough that
no state in the European
Union is in a position to respond individually to these challenges; it is clear that
only an integrated response
at EU level can ensure our favorable connection to such developments. The integrated Europe is the only one that can maintain Europe’s influence in the world. The Union must be prepared though to generate the political strategies needed to set the contemporary geopolitical game correctly,
to formulate clear priorities for future development areas and to correlate them with affordable, innovative financing.
The sixth largest country in the Union after Brexit, Romania has, in my opinion, the full potential to be an influential player in the process of preserving Europe’s overall relevance and influence. Like all other Member States, it cannot remain unaffected
by a decline in Europe's
global importance, or by its potential departing from
the mega-trends whose accelerated development we can all see. Therefore, since
it is not possible to conceive useful solutions at a strictly national level to adapt to
the hyper-globalisation of
a world that has become
ever more uncertain, a wise policy consists undoubtedly in actively supporting Europe’s fundamental values and acting firmly for performance and influence in today’s world.
Romania has in its DNA what is needed to pursue this kind of European policy and it also has a larger maneuvering
space to set itself fast on new development paths. If actively placing itself on a positive European agenda, together with its pivotal members, is the most logical formula for
a country in full convergence and located outside the regional clusters within the Union, at least 3 things are needed to implement this agenda: to move away from
a position in which we think about the EU in the third person (“those from the EU” is a phrase that creates tensions every time); a truly strategic configuration of our political agenda, often confiscated
by introspection and by marginal or minor issues; an enhanced ability to develop policies (we often put formal regulation before stating and agreeing on its rationale, so sometimes lawmaking seems to be an end in itself and not a transposition of subsequent strategies and policies) and to really operate with priorities (we cannot afford to always be exhaustive). A wider period of political stability and continuity, or of cooperation between our political forces
in strategic matters would certainly promote the emergence of such new governance settings. Therefore Romania, the sixth state of the post-Brexit Union, has the opportunity, especially in the context of the EU Council presidency, to optimise its internal governance matrix and to place itself strategically in the EU, supporting in turn the strategic placement of the EU on the global stage.
The views expressed above represent the author's opinion and do not engage in any way the official position of the European Commission in these matters.
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