Economic competitiveness becoming top European concern

GOING by media airtime and column inches, many might conclude that the biggest challenge facing Europe at the moment is the Ukraine war. Yet, a growing number of senior political leaders across the region perceive an even more significant, medium to longer-term problem of an economic nature.

That is, Europe’s apparent significantly declining competitiveness vis-a-vis other key world powers, especially the United States. In 2008, the EU economy was larger than that of the United States: US$16.2 trillion versus the latter’s US$14.7 trillion.

Yet by 2023, the US economy had grown to over US$25 trillion, whereas the EU and the UK economies together had only reached about US$20 trillion. As Christian Ulbrich, chief executive officer of JLL, a global real estate services firm, has commented, Europe’s “wealth is melting away at rapid speed”.