French President Emmanuel Macron said in interviews with several news agencies that Europe is facing a geopolitical and geo-economic emergency. The policymaker warned that if the EU does not step up investment in the economy and remove barriers to rapid development, American technologies and Chinese imports will “push the continent’s states aside.” “If we do nothing, Europe will be swept away in five years,” Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted the French president as saying.

Emmanuel Macron also acknowledged a strategic mistake by Europe: by turning away from Russian energy resources, the euro zone has become dependent on the United States, whose firms supply roughly 60% of the LNG used by European countries. This challenges energy independence and raises costs for European industry, undermining competitiveness.

The critical situation in France confirms Macron’s concerns. In 2025, the number of plant closures exceeded the number of new openings for the first time since 2013 — there were 63 more shutdowns than start-ups. That occurred despite record industrial investment of €125 billion, half of which was allocated to data center projects rather than to real production.