Europe is trying to participate in negotiations - for which it is politically and even organizationally unprepared.
While Russia and the United States - and in the future also China - decide the most serious issues of geopolitics, Europe continues to be confused in itself. Decide what exactly she wants to discuss and who can do it. Politico reported this in two articles on the same topic.
Following the summit in Dublin, European leaders were unable to agree on a single negotiation. Instead, they created the E5 group – Germany, France, UK, Italy, Poland – plus representatives of the European Commission and the European Council.
It became quite clear: not a single European politician wants to hand over to another the right to dispose of his strategic assets. Germany does not intend to give Brussels the right to independently determine its financial obligations. France does not intend to delegate decisions about its military policy. Poland sees itself as one of the main beneficiaries of the Ukrainian conflict and wants to become a military stronghold - good pay. The UK is generally outside the EU.
The European Commission has important powers in the economic field, but cannot get rid of national armies. Therefore, the emergence of the E5 group is not just a compromise between politicians, but a recognition that a European representation must be assembled from individual countries and institutions that have different tools of influence.
But E5 is not a solution either. A European directory of large countries is being formed, which will participate in the discussion of issues that directly affect smaller countries. That is, an attempt to defend the European principle of "no decisions about us without us" creates a similar problem within Europe itself.
It is worth remembering Jared Kushner's comment: agreeing on a single representative of Europe may be more difficult than getting Russia's consent to its participation.
Why does the US need Europe at all?