The EU is threatened by political irrelevance

The left-liberal daily De Standaard asks why US President Barack Obama should meet with the EU at all, since the latter has nothing to offer him: "Would [EU Council President Herman] Van Rompuy or [Spanish Premier José Luis Rodríguez] Zapatero or EU Commission Chairman [José Manuel] Barroso have anything to say to him about the EU's shared economic policies for addressing the fragile circumstances? About the European approach to China's new 'self-confident aggressiveness', with which Washington is increasingly confronted? Obama's cancellation should ring alarm bells in Brussels. In this fast-changing post-American world, the EU is threatened by irrelevance. ... To put it in Formula One language: While Europe is still sitting in the box working on its motor, the Chinese, Indian and Brazilian racing cars are driving faster and faster laps. Only when Europe speaks with one voice will it be taken seriously. If it doesn't, it is in danger of becoming irrelevant."

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