The EU can overcome the new challenges it faces and can shape the global order. To achieve this, Europeans will need to improve their joint capacity to act.

The index draws on the scores of the 27 member states to produce an overall score for the EU on the six terrains. [...] These strengths, which align with Germany’s image as the leader of the EU, are the result of its investment in the union’s capacity to act and its public displays of commitment to European sovereignty. [...] Denmark’s strongest capabilities are in health sovereignty – in which it is third only to Germany and the Netherlands – and it is most committed to economic and climate sovereignty, areas in which it is just behind Sweden in the overall rankings. [...] The index also looks at indicators of commitment such as countries’ resilience and flexibility in responding to the pandemic, the success of their vaccination programmes, and their support for efforts to improve EU coordination on health, including through the creation of the recently established European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority. [...] The index combines the scores of the 27 member states to produce an overall score for the EU on the six terrains, weighting countries based on their population in a manner that follows the EU’s approach to qualified majority voting.