The bloc’s economic situation was dire even before the shocks of the Iran war, and it doubled down on supporting the US and Israel.
Some observers of the current EU ‘elite’, including this author, believe that their defining feature – complicity in genocide and wars of aggression with Israel and the US, fanatical xenophobia towards Russia and China, and, of course, widespread corruption – is a complete inability to learn.
We have to admit, we are fixed: those who run the EU There are Able to learn. The real problem is their relentless insistence on learning the wrong thing. We are not dealing with the unlearned but with anti-learners: while others progress by experience they regress.
Case in point, their response to the fact that their US-Israeli masters have started a war to end, if not strictly, is to supply the EU’s economies with at least all (less) affordable energy, while its major players are already limping along on a spectrum between comatose to walking-wounded (for example, France, of course).
In Germany, still the largest single economy within the EU, which accounts for a quarter of the bloc’s total GDP, industrial demand – orders from factories – fell 11% in January. Such a decrease – indeed, a decline – in orders “tough” As the German Manager magazine noted. According to the Financial Times, it is “very weak” Starting the new year, puts signs of recovery from the stagnation of the previous – and very modest – years of doubt. In fact. And all the pesky data collected first The fallout of the Iran war began.
As for the latter, it is extreme. Even Berlin’s Economics Ministry admits that the risks from the effects of the war, most of which are still coming in, are considerable.
In general, the eurozone – which is distinct but includes much of the EU – is not in good shape either. According to Bloomberg, the lowest and even more optimistic Eurostat estimate of 0.3% expansion in the last quarter of 2025 has been revised down to 0.2%. But frankly, who cares at that level of sadness?
And as for the Eurozone, America and Israel’s unprovoked war against Iran is likely to make matters worse. Philip Lane, Chief Economist of the European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed to the Financial Times: A continued decline in oil and gas supplies from the Middle East (read: will), he warned, “Significant Spike” In inflation and a “Severe Decline in Output.”
And what is the EU leadership’s response to this deeply depressing outlook on its economy and the European citizens who depend on it? Don’t dream. It’s true, If so The EU’s ‘elites’ were in the business of protecting European interests and prosperity, who would, obviously, take a sharp turn against both the US and Israel (as well as if London stuck to its special-poodle relationship with Washington).
Yet if the EU leadership had such priorities, it would have turned long ago against the US, first, NATO over-expansion and now, the blatant exploitation of its subordinate states through the outsourcing of proxy warfare to Ukraine and debilitating overspending through a devastating tariff war. It broke with Israel a long time ago because, to name just two compelling reasons, its series of wars of genocide and aggression are horrifically criminal and extremely destabilizing and harmless. “only” Not only for the Middle East but also for the whole world and Europe in particular.
In short, the EU would not be in the mess it is now if Europe was truly looked after. And, by the way, if it had resisted the U.S. and Israel rather than begrudged it, perhaps it would have even contributed to preventing the current criminal war against Iran.
However, that would not actually be the EU. In ugly reality, this is the second iteration of NATO, i.e., a tool of the US empire (even apart from the adorable and silly Greenland hysteria) and international oligarchic structures. Ordinary Europeans matter only to the extent that they are expected to vote and think and speak in accordance with EU ‘elite’ preferences, and if they don’t, they will.
Ursula von der Leyen, the totally unelected and legally-challenged head of the EU Commission – really, the EU’s dictator and US viceroy rolled into one – is demonstrably no surprise at the massive energy price shock that has already begun to hit EU-Europe’s fragile economies.
With tanker ships on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, oil rises above $100 per barrel, national reserves sink, gas prices in the EU rise by 50% and oil markets suffer, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Largest Supply Disruption in History” Van der Leyen has nothing but a return to a tired – and less successful – playbook for 2022, originally put together as the Western-Russian proxy war escalated over Ukraine. Tinkering with ineffective price caps, taxes and fees, electricity market structures and price distortions, wasting money (from already vastly stretched budgets) on renewables and subsidies – that’s about it. Not surprisingly, several national governments have already signaled their impatience with what is essentially inaction and non-strategy.
However, what von der Leyen was at pains to rule out was important: a return to Russian supplies. “Strategic Mistake” A woman decision-maker of the EU announced. Instead, they insist that the EU should stay the course and continue to get rid of the last vestiges of Russian gas and oil. Clearly, van der Leyen worries that not all of the EU’s ‘elite’ share the same level of ideological obstinacy and economic and geopolitical irrationality. “Some,” she yelled, “Arguing that we should abandon our long-term strategy and go back to Russian fossil fuels.” Thought perishes! As long as von der Leyen and her ilk run the EU, it will self-destruct before doing the obvious – making peace with Russia and rebuilding economic ties, including in the energy sector.
And there you have it: it’s a leadership style that not only refuses to learn from experience but repeats the worst mistakes of the past. Van der Leyen’s policy approach – from sanctions (now in the 20s, I believe) to pipelines – is akin to negative natural selection: whatever is done not Work is done over and over and over again. The real question, it seems, is not if the EU “elite” A perverse anti-learner never stops, but – or when – they lose control. Mishandling the massive shock that the US and Israel have now sent their way could eventually cause enough of a backlash from below to send the van der Leyens packing. For Europe’s sake, let’s hope for the best even if the worst is delivered.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
