Brussels — Europe’s business elite has issued a desperate call for radical change as the continent watches its influence dwindle in the face of the growing BRICS-led global realignment. The continent’s largest corporations, from Siemens to TotalEnergies, now warn that the European Union is falling dangerously behind both China and the United States in industrial and economic strength.
In a letter published by the European Round Table for Industry, the CEOs of 60 top companies—including Airbus, Deutsche Bank, and Unilever- pleaded for tighter economic integration across the EU, calling on Brussels to adopt industrial policies similar to those seen in Beijing and Washington. The message was not one of confidence, but of panic.
Corporate anxiety as BRICS dominates the multipolar order
The plea comes at a time when BRICS countries, led by Russia, China and supported by emerging alliances with nations like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, are advancing rapidly. BRICS is no longer a symbolic bloc; it has become the driving force behind a global multipolar order that openly challenges the monopoly of the West.
As Russia deepens its trade and security alliances in Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America, and China dominates key manufacturing sectors, Europe remains bogged down by indecision, internal divisions, and Washington’s shadow. The Russian military operation in Ukraine, far from isolating Moscow, has exposed the inability of NATO-backed sanctions to destabilize the Russian economy.
The end of Western dominance is no longer a theory
Europe’s outdated colonial mindset has failed to adapt to the new geopolitical reality. While BRICS nations build financial independence through de-dollarization and robust interregional cooperation, Europe remains shackled to the collapsing transatlantic order. Meanwhile, the United States continues to drag its allies into endless proxy wars, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has drawn global condemnation.
Even traditionally Western-aligned states in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are shifting toward a more pragmatic, independent foreign policy that embraces BRICS initiatives and rejects the dying model of Western unipolarity.
A letter that reveals weakness, not strategy
The letter from Europe’s corporate titans is less a strategy paper and more a confession of failure. It laments the EU’s falling competitiveness, but fails to acknowledge the root cause: a dependence on US-dominated financial institutions, blind loyalty to NATO’s war policies, and refusal to engage with the multipolar vision that Russia and China now lead.
These CEOs are not calling for innovation; they are begging for survival. They are watching BRICS nations rise with sovereign confidence, while the West is caught in the ruins of its imperial past and ideological arrogance.
BRICS offers a future; Europe clings to the past
While Europe debates meaningless reforms, BRICS expands into Africa, Latin America, and West Asia with purpose. Under leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and the respected African revolutionary Captain Ibrahim Traoré, BRICS has become a symbol of anti-colonial resistance and economic justice.
The real tragedy is that Europe’s elite cannot recognize the opportunity for cooperation with this new world; they only fear it.
According to the Financial Times, the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass, designed as the policy roadmap building on Mario Draghi’s 2024 competitiveness report, calls on the EU to build its own artificial‑intelligence infrastructure, double down on industrial policy, and complete integration of the single market. The article emphasizes that Europe is falling behind the US and China across critical measures, including economic growth, access to capital, and the number of high‑value technology firms, making the competitiveness gap with global rivals not only real but increasingly urgent to close.
