The Big Picture

Europe is floundering and must modernise as extremists loom

Single market on which its economy is built needs a complete rethink if it is to compete with a booming US and a surging Asia

The European single market is failing to deliver. Picture: Getty

Your economy is in the doldrums and much of your industry is stuck in the 20th century. Your political centre ground is undermined from right and left, your farmers are furious and your population is ageing. There is a war on your doorstep that has demolished your security assumptions. Oh yes, and you don’t have any money.

Europe is floundering, just ahead of an election. From recession in Germany to the war in Ukraine, battles ...