Can Europe master its destiny through the European Political Community?

Forty-four countries recently participated the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), a forum to consider Europe’s linked energy and security crises, with a second meeting scheduled for next spring. Although not meant to displace existing European institutions or structures, or to create a new one “at this stage” according to the European Council, the forum’s animating impulse is much grander. In proposing the EPC last May, France’s President Emmanuel Macron challenged Europe to think beyond its present arrangements and organize itself “with a broader scope than that of the European Union,” in order to become the “master of its own destiny,” to “choose our partners and not depend on them,” and to “act decisively. Move swiftly. Dream big.” And, ultimately, to show that “these words are not only the prerogative of China or the United States of America.”