Germany’s economy, the largest in the EU, will fall from 4% to 3%. In the decade thereafter, China and possibly India could overtake the whole of the euro area. To be sure, the influence of individual Member States on world affairs will diminish steadily. This is nothing new.
The first President of the European Parliament, Paul-Henri Spaak, commented 50 years ago: “Today, Europe consists solely of small countries. The only relevant distinction that remains is that some countries understand this, while others still refuse to acknowledge it”. This is even more true today but will become a dramatic reality in a few years.