Ranking

1. Greece: 176.9%
2. Italy: 132.7%
3. Portugal: 128.9%
4. Cyprus: 109.1%
5. Ireland: 106.5%
6. Belgium: 106.0%
7. Spain: 103.0%
8. France: 96.0%
9. Austria: 86.2%
10. Slovenia: 83.2%
11. Germany: 71.2%
12. Netherlands: 65.2%
13. Malta: 63.9%
14. Finland: 63.7%
15. Slovakia: 52.9%
16. Lithuania: 42.7%
17. Latvia: 36.4%
18. Luxembourg: 22.8%
19. Estonia: 10.0%

European banks lack sufficient capital to offset the losses expected in the case of another financial crisis. Quite how big losses are depends, however, on the stress level to which banks are subject. The European Banking Authority (EBA) stress test provides transparency in regard to bank capital adequacy in stress scenarios, but  does not to reveal capital shortfalls that need to be taken care of immediately. 

The governments of the EU’s three Nordic members – Denmark, Finland and Sweden as well as Norway and Iceland, both members of the European Economic Area (EEA) face the prospect of losing a powerful ally in future. They all have close political and economic links to the UK, based on common interests. They all count the United Kingdom among their five most important trading partners, and, with the exception of Finland, they – like the UK – are outside the euro area.

The U.K.’s success at undermining the bloc’s united front will dictate whether the UK can extract concessions from the EU, such as retaining preferred trading relationships and favorable access for London’s financial firms. The remaining 27 governments have managed to a hold a common line so far but the two-year negotiation will test competing priorities from Paris to Budapest and Lisbon to Warsaw. The UK might play a game of 'divide and rule’ because Member States are not as united as they appear and it might try and slice them apart on certain issues.

Source: Statistiches Bundesamt Wiesbaden 2016

Foreign Trade Balance (Exports-Imports) in 1 000 Euro

New divisions, groups and fault lines in the EU reveal differences not just between countries but within countries and between ideologies, too. Europe has never simultaneously faced so many challenges. Brexit, the eurozone crises, sluggish economic growth, high unemployment and immigration along with social inequality weigh heavy on Europe’s future. Terror attacks have spotlighted the dangers of violent radicalisation. These developments come against a background of technological innovation that, from a competition viewpoint, is too slow, but in social terms others see as too fast.

External Relations

At the recent Malta Summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel rightly pointed out  that “ The more strongly the EU is clear about how it defines its role in the world, the better it can tend its transatlantic relations.''

Joint-Letter of Manfred Weber, Chairman of the EPP Group, and Guy Verhofstardt, President of the ALDE GROUP to President of the European Commission, President of the European Parliament and President of the European Council

“ In the past weeks, Ted Malloch likely nominee by U.S. President Trump to become the new Ambassador to the European Union, made a series of public statements denigrating the EU.

The EU struggles for a Strategic Narrative. The EU strategic narrative is complicated by the hybrid nature of the institution - reflecting both supranational and intergovernmental aspects, which complicates efforts to speak with a single voice in international affairs. The EU has in recent years lost a vision for a shared narrative , thus hampering the EU's strategic impact. This has been most clearly witnessed in EU crisis management in which diverging and occasionally conflicting narratives have emerged.