World View

On 15 November: Olaf Scholz holds a telephone conference with Vladimir Putin, to icy statements from Paris and Warsaw (the Elysée observing that this was "not coordinated" and Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk retorting "no one will stop Putin with phone calls"); 21 November: the Swedish battery maker Northvolt, Europe's best chance of rivalling American and Chinese clean-tech giants, declares bankruptcy; 27 November: Poland and France join forces to block an EU trade deal with Mercosur, the South American trading bloc, that would serve the union's economic and geopolitical interests. Three news stories; three illustrations of a fissiparous Europe dismally unready for inauguration day on 20 January. Since 2016 the continent has become more, not less, dependent on the US for its security, energy and exports. Italy and Spain should be added in light of their economic size and crucial security role on Europe's southern flank, completing a new "Es" group capable of steering the EU, clearing regional differences, and unlocking deals.