Europe’s Strategic Turn to Resilience

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Europe is undergoing a profound strategic shift. For decades, the European Union built its prosperity on openness, global markets and the assumption that economic interdependence would guarantee stability. Today, those assumptions no longer hold. Geopolitical tensions, strategic rivalries, economic coercion and technological competition are reshaping the global landscape. Europe must adapt, but not by abandoning openness, but by ensuring fairness and resilience.

This is the essence of the new European debate: how to remain one of the world’s most open economies while building the resilience needed in an era of systemic competition.

Why Europe Must Move Faster

Among global powers, the EU was the slowest to adjust. Our deep commitment to the rules‑based trade made us reluctant to accept that others were moving toward strategic industrial policy, subsidies and protective instruments. We were attached to the belief that markets alone would deliver security.

But the world has changed. The shift has been abrupt and measurable: in a single year, the share of G20 imports affected by trade-restrictive measures rose from 12.9% to 22.0% (from roughly 2.35 billion USD to 4 billion USD in covered trade).

Competitiveness has become a security issue. The EU can no longer afford strategic naivety. The task now is to adapt — quickly, coherently and without undermining the foundations of our economic model.

Europe’s Strategic Asset

In a world turning inward, the Single Market is Europe’s greatest strength. It is not only an economic space but a geopolitical instrument.

Removing barriers, integrating services and capital, and reducing fragmentation are among the fastest ways to boost growth and resilience.

Excessive fragmentation and overregulation carry a real economic cost. That cost is not abstract. ECB analysis suggests that internal barriers within the Single Market act as the equivalent of a 67% tariff on goods and a 95% tariff on services. Those are the frictions that European companies absorb every day while competitors face none of them at home.

This is even more true when global actors deploy massive industrial support. If Europe does not act together, national responses will create distortions and deepen inequalities inside the EU. The answer to global protectionism is a stronger, more coherent Single Market capable of competing globally.

A New Industrial Policy

Industrial policy has returned worldwide. Major powers use subsidies, local‑content rules and strategic investment tools to secure technological leadership.

Europe cannot ignore this reality. But it must respond in a way that is consistent with its values and internal cohesion.

This is where Poland’s position is particularly relevant. As a country with an extensive industrial base and a developed clean-tech industry (e.g. our renewable energy sector already employs around 180,000 people – 2.5 times more than the mining sector), we support further strengthening Europe’s industry. At the same time, we emphasise that our actions must not introduce division within the Union. It should reinforce competitiveness across all member states, not only in the most advanced economies.

The flagship example of this balanced approach is the Industrial Acceleration Act (IAA). The IAA represents a breakthrough in EU’s thinking on industrial policy. For the first time, the preference for European content in public procurement and other support instruments was put forward so openly.

The IAA proposal is limited to selected strategic sectors and takes into account the EU’s trading partners who engage in fair trade. This demonstrates that the EU is not turning its back on free trade. Furthermore, the project has a significant decarbonization dimension, so it does not contradict the EU’s climate policy.

Poland will have an important role to play in ensuring that this “reasonable openness” is maintained as things progress. However, an even more crucial role for Poland will be to ensure that the IAA does not discriminate against any Member State, for example, by applying decarbonization criteria without considering the specificities and starting points of individual countries. A strong, integrated single market based on a level playing field is, after all, the EU’s most important asset.

The Foundations of Competitiveness

Europe’s competitiveness challenge is multidimensional. Affordable, secure and low‑emission energy is essential. So are innovation ecosystems, capital markets and human capital.

Skills, education and technological excellence are strategic assets.

This is not a turn toward isolation. It is a turn toward strategic capability, and it will not come cheaply. The Draghi report estimates the EU needs an additional 800 billion USD in investment every year (5% of our GDP) simply to keep pace with the US and China on competition and climate goals.

Security Through Partnerships

Because of our turn to resilience, Europe will be challenged by our partners on whether its new policies amount to protectionism. Poland’s message is clear: Europe seeks competitiveness, not isolation.

Economic security is not achieved through isolation. It is achieved through resilient networks, diversified supply chains and reliable alliances.

This is where middle powers share common interests. We all benefit from predictable rules, diversified partnerships and open markets that are not weaponised.

The United Kingdom also remains a key partner in this approach. It is a country that believes in fair competition and shares Europe’s interest in stable, rules‑based economic relations.

A More Confident Europe

Europe is not turning away from the world. It is turning toward strategic responsibility.

If the EU strengthens its Single Market, invests in competitiveness and builds resilience without sacrificing openness, it will emerge more confident, influential and stronger.

This is the vision that should guide our discussions, and our partnerships, in a world increasingly defined by strategic competition.