Europe’s economic model is facing a brutal reality check. The EU wants to compete with the US and China, reindustrialise, fund the green transition and strengthen its strategic autonomy. But ambition without investment is just political rhetoric. The real question is whether Europe can abandon the reflex of fiscal restraint long enough to finance its own future. You cannot demand global competitiveness while underinvesting in the industries, technologies and infrastructure that make it possible. Europe’s problem is not a lack of strategy papers. It is the growing gap between what Brussels promises and what Europe is prepared to fund.