One of our problems (EU citizen here too) is the delusion that because everyone in the world wants access to European markets, everyone will bend their knees to our regulations and we can effectively dictate the world's standards.

Given that our market share on the global economy is dropping steadily, this won't hold forever. By 2040 or so it might be more advantageous for Asian producers to just avoid our bureaucratized space altogether.

Already this year we had a showdown with Qatar over some ESG reporting and we lost handily, because we needed their gas more than they needed our money.

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riffraff 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> By 2040 or so it might be more advantageous for Asian producers to just avoid our bureaucratized space altogether.

in favour of what? Every other large market (China, India, USA) has extreme protectionism in place.

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andsoitis 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> > By 2040 or so it might be more advantageous for Asian producers to just avoid our bureaucratized space altogether.

> in favour of what? Every other large market (China, India, USA) has extreme protectionism in place.

The EU has higher tariffs than the US overall, especially for agriculture and cars. Policy is structured and uniform.

The IS has lower tariffs than the EU overall, but often used as political/economic weapon on specific countries and sectors.

The current administration's tactics notwithstanding.

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inglor_cz 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

At least in case of India, it is in their interest to lower their trade barriers against Thailand, Viet Nam, Philippines, Indonesia etc.

This region with 500 million people in it will oscillate between Chinese and Indian influence. The Chinese are more powerful and richer, so the only way in which India can compete for influence is being more friendly.

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tonyhart7 7 hours ago | parent [-]

India is too busy fighting on their own sphere of influence (south asian)

china keep them in check via pakistan

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inglor_cz 7 hours ago | parent [-]

Now, but we're talking 2040, and the situation may look a lot different.

India has been doing some incredible things lately. They just electrified their entire rail network in some five years. That is actually impressive - you need a lot of qualified people and coordination for that.

If they keep up, they will become a strategic adversary of China in Indochina (see the name?) quite soon.

	▲	eldaisfish 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		India's rail network is not fully electrified, this is false. Even the most popular broad gauge network is not fully electrified. Diesel trains are still very common. Remember also that the Indian government is very skilled at manipulating data without actually delivering results. Just look at the lies they spewed during the pandemic about deaths. India's promised ascendance to power and influence remain perpetually a few decades away. Meanwhile, the poor continue to lose purchasing power, the rich exploit the entire country, and India's total economic exports are comparable to those of the Netherlands.

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constantcrying 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Exactly. For the past decades much of the world was entirely dependent on European products. This gave the EU and European countries enormous leverage in setting standards and enforcing their own regulations across the world. This is very clearly changing, in many areas European companies are depending on Chinese technology (e.g. EV batteries).

I am sure that some part of the EU establishment is aware of this, but the measure taken are practically laughable compared to the magnitude of the problem. At some future point in time dealing with the EU will just not be worth it, as competitive companies outside the EU, not weighed down by EU regulations, will fill the gaps and entering the EU market will be seen as too toxic.