The variables and solutions for the European relaunch

 What challenges must the European Union face to maintain its expected role on the international stage? Trump's election, China's commercial advance, and the war in Ukraine on the Union's borders have accentuated what everyone knew: the progressive decline of its economic size, its military irrelevance, and the inadequacy of an increasingly divided foreign policy. Added to this is the underestimation of the source of the threats to Europe, which have never considered Washington as a political adversary, which is aiming for the dissolution of the current European order. The lack of progress in relations with China, practical inaction toward Russia, with the dispute over the use of the Russian Central Bank's reserves in Europe, and finally a lack of decisive response to counter the imposition of American tariffs, have left Brussels with a severely deteriorated image. This, however, is not a situation that arose suddenly: the vested interest secured by US governments in European defense, through direct commitment of investment and personnel, has so far not been overcome, despite the warning signs already present during the Obama presidency, which shifted American foreign interests from the Old Continent to Southeast Asia. This is closely linked to the lack of a European posture capable of proactively emancipating itself from its American ally. Hence the need to promote protective partnerships, which can translate into prevention and deterrence scenarios, also based on a more intense exchange of international cooperation, not only between state or supranational entities, but also between private entities that play strategic roles in well-defined sectors. Alliances, both economic and military, must be conceived and created with potential allies such as Australia, South Korea, Japan, and, of course, the United Kingdom. Canada deserves a separate discussion: thanks to its strong political and cultural affinity, it could be a key player in greater engagement with Europe, even to the point of envisaging Ottawa's entry as a full member of the European Union. This would expand Brussels' sphere of influence to the American borders, precisely with a view to containing the US, should other presidencies similar to this one take place. From this perspective, with a G7 dominated by the unilateralism of the White House, which has almost made it its own political instrument, finding alternative solutions could be in the common interest of all countries wishing to combat the American trade challenge based on unfair tariffs. The need to reduce strategic dependencies on goods and services is coupled with the ability to attract investment that will enable significant development in strategic sectors through the creation and development of high-value local industries, such as space, defense, and the medical industry, capable of providing adequate financial returns to investors. The first step is to improve governance procedures, abandoning the unanimity requirement for qualified majority decisions, and ensuring greater selection of incoming and existing members, who cannot influence community policy with values ​​that are clearly contrary to the founding principles and the new challenges that are emerging. The goal must be a supranational organization with a progressive transfer of sovereignty, capable of fostering a common foreign policy, and a single armed force with rapid intervention capabilities. This will gradually move toward an increasingly unified entity, capable of representing the interests of all the peoples of Europe and beyond, and of playing a major role on the international stage.