The reluctance of Europe’s political leaders in the face of violent American attacks is unacceptable. At a time when a threat that has been implicit for decades (the United States no longer wants to take on the defense of its European allies) is becoming explicit, European leaders are acting as if they had not heard the rejection and contempt coming from across the Atlantic.
On the contrary, Europeans should be proud of who they are, and understand that they are far better than the Americans in many areas, and that they can rapidly build up an autonomous defense. In reality, the Americans don’t want Europeans to become autonomous and united: they want them divided, populist, submissive, with side-by-side markets open to the services of their digital companies and their armaments.
But we Europeans have all the means not to give in to this blackmail: in most areas essential to its survival, Europe is more powerful than the United States. We have far better healthcare systems than they do, freedom of the press is far greater in Europe, our primary and secondary education systems are far better than those of the United States, our political systems are far more democratic than the plutocracy that triumphs in Washington today, and we do no worse than they do when it comes to defending cultural identity. But also because, when it comes to industry and defense (areas in which we too often accept the belief that the Americans are crushing us), the reality is no longer at all to their advantage.
Europe masters air propulsion, composite materials and the airborne logistics chain better than the United States; Airbus dominates the world market for commercial aircraft, overtaking Boeing in orders and deliveries. Europe exports far more agri-food than the United States. In the automotive sector, the United States has only one competitive company (Tesla), while Europe is still the world’s leading automotive exporter, threatened only by Asian manufacturers. In the rail sector, Europe dominates world rolling stock with Alstom, Siemens, CAF and Stadler. Europe (with Germany, Italy and Austria…) is the leading Western powerhouse in machine tools and industrial automation; it is the world’s second-largest exporter of machine tools (behind China). In civil nuclear power, Europe (France, Finland, Czech Republic) controls the entire chain, which is no longer the case in the United States. In wind power, Europe is home to the largest Western manufacturers (Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Nordex). European power grid management models are copied everywhere. Europe is far ahead of the United States in all environmental industries (water management, waste treatment, eco-materials, circular economy). European chemicals are more export-oriented and more innovative than American chemicals (excluding petrochemicals). Finally, while the United States still dominates the media industry, in another major soft power, luxury goods, Europe is totally dominant.
And even in a strategic area where Europeans believe themselves to be totally outdated – armaments – we’ll be surprised to realize that this is far from the case. In several categories, European armaments outperform their American equivalents: in terms of tanks, the American M1 Abrams, excellent but designed in the 1970s, is very heavy, difficult to modernize and very dependent on its turbine engine, whereas the German Leopard 2 is the best Western tank and other European tanks, such as the Leclerc or Challenger 2, have exceptional characteristics. In the artillery field, the war in Ukraine showed that European weapons (the French CAESAR and the Swedish Archer) are the most accurate and robust, giving Europe the best Western self-propelled artillery. In the missile field, Europe boasts some of the world’s best penetration weapons, such as the SCALP, used in Ukraine, with a range and accuracy superior to its American counterparts (with the exception of the Tomahawk); the Taurus KEPD 350 (Germany/Sweden) is one of the best-performing missiles in its category; the Exocet is the world benchmark for anti-ship missiles; the Meteor (MBDA) is the best Western long-range air-to-air missile, superior to the American AMRAAM. In the field of very short-range air defense, the French Mistral 3 and the German IRIS-T SLS / SLM are currently the best performers, while the USA still dominates long-range missiles with its Patriot. In terms of fighter aircraft, if the United States lines up the F-35, Europeans can offer three formidable aircraft (the Rafale, Gripen and Eurofighter) that are perfectly competitive and far more self-sufficient than their American rival, in terms of maintenance, components and spare parts. In terms of naval weapons, Europe is also well ahead with the French F21 torpedo and FREMM frigates, while the United States will dominate the aircraft carrier market for some time to come. Last but not least, the Europeans (France, Norway, UK, Ukraine) are ahead of the game in surface and submarine drones.
However, we must not hide the fact that we Europeans are lagging far behind in a number of essential areas, particularly in the digital chain, which is tragically reducing the autonomy of our weapons and financial systems. But we can’t make up for lost time. Europeans have the financial and technological resources to make up for it. All that remains is for us to make up the lost ground, at a rapid pace, and with confidence in ourselves: there is no worse fighter than the one who internalizes defeat before the battle has even begun. If President Trump’s diatribes are heeded in time, if Europeans don’t kowtow to him, we’ll have him to thank: he’ll have done less to wake us up, and he’ll have been one of the European Union’s greatest – and unwitting – benefactors.
Image:Epa-Efe/ Patrick Seeger