Europe's Choice: Getting Out Of – Or Getting Lost In – The Labyrinth of the Interregnum

This discussion paper explores the concept of the European political community, framing it as a foundational premise for advancing deeper integration and cohesion across Europe. It argues that under conditions of cultural and normative diversity and fragmented political agency, the EU can evolve into a concrete and viable unified community only by coupling shared values and societal understanding with coordinated capacities in areas such as security, digital governance, and economic resilience. Rather than treating integration as a purely institutional or technical project, the paper conceptualizes the European political community, beyond the EU members, as an active framework through which collective autonomy, democratic legitimacy, and strategic agency can be constructed and sustained.

Although the EU has integrated many of its parts, it has never fully realized Europe’s potential as a unified entity or risen to the grandeur of Europe as a whole. Yet there is reason for cautious optimism: the EU has repeatedly shown an ability to reinvent itself in moments of crisis. This raises important questions: How has it managed such reinvention, and what enduring gains have resulted? Short-term fixes have too often failed to cultivate a coherent long-term vision. The EU faces a major geopolitical disruption and risks falling behind due to the structural dependencies it has developed with major global powers. The EU has long relied on China for technology, trade, and critical supply chains; on the United States for defense, security, financial systems, cloud computing, and AI infrastructure; and on Russia for energy, particularly natural gas. While many of these dependencies are purely material, one has also been value-based: the EU’s reliance on a shared commitment to liberal democratic norms with the United States. An alignment that is increasingly fraying as U.S. foreign policy priorities shift. Additional dependencies include global semiconductor supply, rare earth minerals, digital platforms dominated by U.S. tech giants, and key financial instruments that tie Europe to the dollar system.
 

In this context, the EU must return to a self-reflective vision of itself, the “open European project,” and take its own strategic autonomy seriously. Strategic autonomy should not mean inward-looking self-obsession, but rather the ability to act independently and reduce critical reliance on external actors, particularly China, Russia, and the US. Current U.S. policy documents confirm that these shifts are no longer hypothetical; they reflect the realignment of global interests.  Everything currently unfolding in the world may help redirect Europe’s course for the better. It is in this spirit that this paper seeks to initiate a scholarly discussion on the significance of the European Political Community, drawing specifically on perspectives from authors based in Central and Southeast Europe.
 

On their own, EU member states cannot navigate these mounting geopolitical pressures. Only through a coordinated European strategy, strengthening defense, securing critical technologies, diversifying energy and supply chains, and reaffirming shared values through cultural sensitivity and understanding, can the EU preserve its sovereignty, resilience, and capacity to act as a meaningful global actor.