Europe’s geopolitical reality check

Once a year, economics editor Marieke Stellinga of NRC writes a column about which of her opinions have changed over the past year. It’s a great tradition, an antidote to being overly confident about your own judgment, as Stellinga herself once put it. I’m happy to follow in her footsteps.

In my eyes, the debate about Europe’s strategic autonomy has taken on a very different character. Initially, I was enthusiastic about a more assertive Europe, which would once again put technology, raw materials and industrial production front and center. In a world where geopolitical relations are cooling and free trade is under pressure, there seemed no alternative anyway.