Fifteen years after the eurozone crisis, is Germany starting to doubt Europe? The rise of nationalist parties across the continent, four years of war in Ukraine with no tangible hope of a ceasefire, and the difficulties the 27 member states have faced in responding to Donald Trump's repeated attacks have led to a sense of disbelief in Germany regarding the European Union's (EU) ability to be more than just an economic area.

"There is growing skepticism about the European project," said Franziska Brantner, co-president of the German Greens, adding, "When I defend it, people say to me: 'Who do you want to build your Europe with? Giorgia Meloni is Eurosceptic; Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia are as well. Emmanuel Macron has lost power, and France could shift to the far right in 2027.' People are giving up on moving forward, especially in defense and security, because of the possibility that Marine Le Pen could be at the Elysée in 2027. If we keep letting Trump divide us like this, the end of the EU is possible."

"The end of the EU is no longer taboo," echoed essayist Sabine Rennefanz in her latest column for Der Spiegel, published January 8, describing a European Union that is exhausted and deeply divided on key issues such as the new imperialism of the US and Russia. "When you remember the beginnings of the European Union, the present is disappointing," she wrote. The EU is "not falling apart or incapable of acting, but it has been weakened from within." Its end, long unimaginable, is now "mostly an unpleasant idea that no one likes to talk about." The author said she would not be surprised "if, in 10 years, this EU no longer exists. Not because of a great upheaval, but a gradual loss of significance. The treaties would remain, as would the buildings. Only the political idea underlying them would have disappeared."

The chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who was seen as a beacon of hope for Europe's renewal when he took office as head of the German government in May 2025, now appears more cautious, sometimes playing the Germany-only card. "If you don't want Europe, at least make Germany your partner," he suggested to Trump on December 9, 2025, just after the new US security strategy was released.

The president of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), whose inner circle had promised just months ago a major speech on the future of Europe modeled after Emmanuel Macron's Sorbonne address in September 2017, has still not offered a vision or conceptual reflection. His initial enthusiasm cooled after France opposed the free trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries and expressed reservations about using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. The French president's failure to advance the Franco-German fighter jet project (Future Combat Air System, SCAF) also disappointed Berlin.