• About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Statutes
    • Board
    • Member
      • Corporate
      • Personal
    • Management
    • Become a Member
  • Programme
    • CEO Roundtable
    • Panel discussions and webinars
    • Cooperations
    • Stammtisch & Members’ talk
    • Lectures
    • Studies
  • Working Groups
    • Powering Europe: Competitive Energy Transition
    • Digital Transformation, European Sovereignty and Cybersecurity
    • BRICS+, Transatlantic Relations and G7
  • Young Leaders Advocacy Network
    • Mentoring Programme
    • Advocacy Seminars
    • Advocacy Webinars
    • Young Leaders Alumni
    • Young Leaders Voices
    • Rome Manifesto
      • The Manifesto
      • The Story behind the Manifesto
      • Partner Organisations
  • Events
    • Past events
  • DE
  • EN
  • DE
United Europe
United Europe
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Statutes
    • Board
    • Member
      • Corporate
      • Personal
    • Management
    • Become a Member
  • Programme
    • CEO Roundtable
    • Panel discussions and webinars
    • Cooperations
    • Stammtisch & Members’ talk
    • Lectures
    • Studies
  • Working Groups
    • Powering Europe: Competitive Energy Transition
    • Digital Transformation, European Sovereignty and Cybersecurity
    • BRICS+, Transatlantic Relations and G7
  • Young Leaders Advocacy Network
    • Mentoring Programme
    • Advocacy Seminars
    • Advocacy Webinars
    • Young Leaders Alumni
    • Young Leaders Voices
    • Rome Manifesto
      • The Manifesto
      • The Story behind the Manifesto
      • Partner Organisations
  • Events
    • Past events
  • DE
Join
  • Prominent Opinions

Manuel Marin: How the world shifted from the zero to the 180 degree meridian

  • June 6, 2015
Manuel González Marin
Manuel Marin, former Vice President of the EU Commission

For many centuries, Europe organised the world. Look at the Spanish empire, the French empire or the British empire. We were able to organize the world according to our rules and our interests. We defined the prime meridian – the place of zero degrees longitude – as a line going through Europe.

In the last 20 years, the world has changed. It is no longer Eurocentric. It no longer operates on the zero degree meridian. Today, gravity has shifted to the 180 degrees meridian. The economic, financial and political centre of the world is located somewhere between the United States and China.

Can Europe become the third pillar? Are we able we move to a multipolar world?

Europe is the largest economy in the world. We are the second most important trading block. We are the leading donor of development aid, and we own the second largest military force in the world. Yet so far, we are not able to translate our theoretical capabilities into real instruments.

We cannot give in to despair; we need to believe that Europe can progress. But for that, we need more Europe. And for more Europe, we need better leadership.

Manuel Marín, former Vice-President of the European Commission

  • share 
  • share 
  • share 
  • share 
  • save 
  • share 
  • share 
  • email 
„The governments of countries like China and India see their role as enablers of the manufacturing sector, and young people actively seek out careers in production. For us in Europe, it is high time we increased our focus on the “Made in Europe” vision.”“

Peter Oswald
CEO Mondi Group

More prominent opinions
Search
Trending Posts
  • ***Call for Applications*** – Young Leaders Advocacy Seminar in Vienna “2024 Was A Defining Election Year – What’s Next For Europe?”
    • March 11, 2025
  • General Assembly 2024 & Panel Discussion in Berlin
    • November 20, 2024
  • Review: Drivers of Innovation in Europe
    • November 18, 2024
  • Review: Working Group BRICS+ I 2nd Session hosted by the South African Embassy
    • November 29, 2024
  • Kerstin Petretto, Dr Laura Hirvi, Giedrius Puodžiūnas, Marika Linntam, Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook (from left)
    United Europe’s Panel Discussion: Economic Shifts & Geopolitical Pressures: How is Europe’s New Leadership Team Preparing for the Future?
    • December 19, 2024
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Statutes
    • Board
    • Member
    • Management
    • Become a Member
  • Programme
    • CEO Roundtable
    • Panel discussions and webinars
    • Cooperations
    • Stammtisch & Members’ talk
    • Lectures
    • Studies
  • Working Groups
    • Powering Europe: Competitive Energy Transition
    • Digital Transformation, European Sovereignty and Cybersecurity
    • BRICS+, Transatlantic Relations and G7
  • Young Leaders Advocacy Network
    • Mentoring Programme
    • Advocacy Seminars
    • Advocacy Webinars
    • Young Leaders Alumni
    • Young Leaders Voices
    • Rome Manifesto
  • Events
    • Past events
  • DE
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Imprint
© United Europe e. V.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Vorlieben
Die technische Speicherung oder der Zugriff ist für den rechtmäßigen Zweck der Speicherung von Präferenzen erforderlich, die nicht vom Abonnenten oder Benutzer angefordert wurden.
Statistics
Die technische Speicherung oder der Zugriff, der ausschließlich zu statistischen Zwecken erfolgt. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
X