A high song in Germany and the EU - why they need themselves to be able to survive against the USA and China

Published on: July 8, 2025 / update from: July 8, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

A song in Germany and the EU - why they need themselves to be able to exist against the USA and China - Image: Xpert.digital

Germany without an EU: Economic giant or political dwarf in global strength game

The invisible lever: How the EU gives Germany to world power

The importance of Germany within the European Union is often discussed and evaluated differently. Especially in times of global upheavals and geopolitical tensions, however, it becomes clear how much the Federal Republic benefits from close cooperation with its European partners - and how much the EU also depends on German commitment. The following thought game invites you to look at the often hidden, but all the more effective interactions between Germany and the EU and to work out their strategic importance in the global context.

Germany would be a giant in a hypothetical world of “individual parts”. In the real world of the economic blocks, however, it is only able to act through the EU to act at eye level with the real giants - the USA and China.

Let us underpin this “high song” on Germany and the EU with a more detailed analysis.

An insightful mind game: the illusion of the sole strength

If you break down the economic output of the United States to its states and the China on their provinces, Germany with its gross domestic product (GDP) of around 4.5 trillion US dollars (forecasts for 2024/2025) is actually at the top of the world.

Germany: ~ $ 4.5 trillion USD
California (USA): ~ $ 4.0 trillion USD
Texas (USA): ~ $ 2.6 trillion USD
Guangdong (China): ~ $ 2.0 trillion USD

This game of thought exposes a crucial truth: the enormous economic power of the United States and China results from its unity and size. They act as closed, gigantic inland markets with a uniform commercial, currency and often industrial policy. This is exactly where the fundamental importance of the EU for Germany - and vice versa - comes in.

: Understand the USA better: a mosaic of the state states and EU countries in comparison-analysis of the economic structures-Image: Xpert.digital

: For Chinese: The EU better understand - from Guangdong to Germany - how similar do the business giants really tick? - Image: Xpert.digital

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Why Germany needs the EU: From the national champion to European giants

Germany alone would be a wealthy, but ultimately vulnerable country medium size in the global show of strength. The EU becomes the decisive part of an economic area that can take on the USA and China.

1. The internal market: the indispensable lifeline

The EU internal market with around 450 million consumers is the backbone of German prosperity. For the export -oriented German economy, this means:

Duty -free trade: no tariffs and no complicated customs procedures within the EU. This is of existential importance for a country whose exports make up almost 50 % of its GDP.
Harmonized standards: uniform standards and rules (from mechanical engineering to food safety) reduce production costs and create a huge home market for German products.
Integrated supply chains: German industry is deeply interwoven with suppliers from Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy and France. Without the internal market, these complex and efficient value chains would collapse.

2. The euro: a protective sign against instability

Before the euro, the D-Mark was exposed to constant revaluation, which made German exports more expensive. In addition, companies had to secure currency risks. The euro creates a stable, large currency zone that:

Transaction costs lowers.
Currency fluctuations within the euro zone eliminated.
Germany protects against speculative attacks on a national currency.

3. Global negotiation power: the EU as a megaphone

In trade negotiations with Washington or Beijing, Germany alone would only have a limited weight. However, as part of the EU, it is negotiating as part of a block with a GDP of around $ 18 trillion.

The “Brussels Effect”: The EU sets global standards in areas such as data protection (GDPR), chemical security (REACH) and increasingly with artificial intelligence due to its market size. German companies benefit from the fact that their standards will de facto become world standards.

Enforcement power: Only the EU as a whole can impose punitive tariffs or enforce effective sanctions in order to counter unfair trading practices.

Why the EU needs Germany: the stable anchor in the center

The EU would be a ship without a motor and anchor without Germany. Germany's role is just as existential for the Union.

1. The economic locomotive

Germany is by far the largest economy of the EU and its most important contribution payer.

Growth engine: The strength of the German economy and its high demand for goods and services boost growth in partner countries.

Stability anchors of the euro zone: The solidity of German economy and financial policy is crucial for the stability of the entire euro area. Without Germany, the euro would not be conceivable.

The biggest net payer: Germany contributes disproportionately to the EU budget and thus financed cohesion and structural funds, from which the economically weaker member states in particular benefit, which ensures the cohesion of the Union.

2. The industrial and innovative heart

Germany's industrial strength, its focus on “Industry 4.0”, its engineering and its research landscape are an innovation engine for the entire continent. Programs such as “Horizon Europe” bundle these strengths and enable European top research that can compete with the United States and China.

3. Political weight and mediator role

Despite its economic dominance, Germany often acts as an intermediary and bridge builder in the EU. As a founding member and political heavyweight, it is essential to find compromises between the 27 member states and to hold the Union together in times of crisis.

A community of fate in the face of the giants

The question is not whether Germany or the EU is strong. The reality is that only the EU can be strong as a core with a strong Germany, and only a Germany embedded in the EU can develop its strength globally.

Compared to the monolithic blocks USA and China, which shape the technological and economic competition of the future with huge state subsidies (China) and a huge, dynamic capital market (USA), every European nation state alone would have no chance.

In the competition for AI, semiconductor and green technologies

Only the EU can create the necessary investment sums and the market to keep up (e.g. by the “EU Chips Act”).

In the argument about trade rules, climate policy and raw material security

Only the EU can effectively represent its interests as a unit.

The relationship between Germany and the EU is therefore not a purpose community, but a community of fate. The “Song of Songs” does not apply to one of the two alone, but their inseparable symbiosis. They are the answer of Europe to a world in which size and unity are more decisive than ever.

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