The European Union in the age of slowbalisation

Abstract

The global financial crisis of 2008/09 is generally regarded as the beginning of a slowdown in the process of economic globalization, what has been called slowbalisation. As a consequence of the changed geopolitical climate, the EU is now encouraging the reshoring (or the nearshoring) of certain activities and is pursuing an active industrial policy in critical sectors where it feels vulnerable. I argue that perceived geopolitical threats could act as a catalyst for a deeper degree of integration (as has always been the case at critical moments in the past), as the EU will only be able to muster the resources to succeed in its endeavor if it moves more decisively towards a political union. In turn, the resulting stronger EU, with its institutions, history and values, could play a stabilizing role in the global context, helping to keep the confrontation between countries and regions within physiological economic boundaries.