The Energy Crisis in Europe is Already Here — How Catastrophic Will It Get?
It was predicted to come in the fall, then Spain just ordered the lights off, and the UK might be next
The EU as an economic bloc is massive, rivaling the size of the US or China. But one of its major weaknesses has always been that it isn’t energy sovereign. Many countries within it rely on imports in that vital area for industry and domestic consumption. In such a globalized world economy, all nations are vulnerable to the changing winds of geopolitics, but not producing enough energy puts Europe in a particularly precarious position.
There’s also nowhere near as much unity within the continent as the European Commission and media project. The ’08 debt crisis left many nations deeply angered and frustrated at the governing body, the UK up and Brexit-ed, member states like Hungary and Poland openly defy the rules, and many Europeans I speak to rightly see Brussels as being full of bureaucrats who are completely unbeholden to democracy.
It has been becoming more and more obvious every year that the average Spaniard, Czech, or Dane has zero impact on EU policy. And that has been leading to further division, even before COVID came along and vaccine distribution favored wealthy nations.
