Can the BRICS challenge the EU?

Does the European Union (EU) face a formidable rival in the form of BRICS, a group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa? This question gains further complexity with the recent expansion of BRICS, welcoming five new members – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the UAE, now often referred to as BRICS+. The enlargement of BRICS into BRICS+ marks a significant shift, suggesting a growing and increasingly diverse coalition that could potentially challenge the EU’s influence on the world stage. Our video delves into a detailed comparison between the original five BRICS countries and the EU, exploring the new BRICS+ members and potential future additions, to assess whether BRICS holds equivalent or greater power than the EU in global affairs.

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The BRICS Expansion: Perspectives for the EU

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Does the EU have a rival? Is there  a group of countries out there that   have the same political and economic unity?  These five countries make up BRICS – Brazil,   Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

And that is not all. At the start of the year, 5  more countries joined the BRICS group. These new   members are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the UAE.   With these countries joining, the group is now often referred to as BRICS+, meaning the BRICS group is getting bigger and more varied.

Some believe BRICS hold the same, if not more,  power than the European Union on the world stage. But Is this true? In this video, we’ll first  compare the original five BRICS countries with   the EU, then explore the new BRICS + members,  and potential future additions to the group.

In 2001, Jim O’Neill, an economist working at  Goldman Sachs, wrote a report detailing how he   believed Brazil, India, Russia, and China would  grow to dominate the world economy in as little as   fifty years. He called this grouping of countries  BRIC, an acronym of each country’s initials.

I think the four BRIC countries in the  next 30 years will be the four largest   so-called emerging economies and even  while there are other emerging economies   that are interesting and exciting,  including the so-called MINT countries,  

It’s very unlikely that any of them are going  to be as big as any of the BRIC countries. By 2010, South Africa, also seen as a  developing economy, joined the group,   thereby adding the final initial  ‘S’, to form the word BRICS.

Our BRICS partners are now the largest  trading partners of both Africa and   South Africa. They realise the exponential  growth potential of our regional market. Since 2010, the leaders of the 5 countries have  been holding annual summits where they discuss   world affairs and set out future plans  for political and financial cooperation.  

BRICS wants to offer an alternative to  the traditional Western world order,   led by the United States and the European Union. Many have then wondered – is BRICS a more powerful  force than the EU? Is this grouping of countries   something Europe should worry about? In  our opinion, no. In their current forms,  

The BRICS and the EU are two completely different  organisations. We’ll look at three pillars today   to explain why we think the EU is still a  much more integrated and influential group,   compared to BRICS on the international  stage. But of course, this might change in the future. The first pillar is geography.

Let’s take a look back at our map.  In yellow are the member-states of   the European Union. In green are  the original 5 BRICS countries. Yes, I know that there are now 10 BRICS  countries, but we want to start with the  

Original 5. Towards the end of the video we will  show a full comparison of the EU vs. the BRICS and   vs. the BRICS-Plus. So bear with us as it is  quite amazing how fast this group is growing. At first glance, it looks like the  original 5 BRICS countries already  

Have the clear upper hand. All together,  BRICS countries have a combined landmass   of nearly 40 million square kilometres  stretching across most continents,   which covers just over a quarter of the  planet’s land surface. Compare this to the EU,   whose borders only cover just over 4 million  square kilometres on just one continent.

Not only that, the original BRICS countries hold  over 3.3 billion people within their borders,   which is around 42% of the world’s population.  The EU population is large with over 440   million residents, but it still pales in  comparison to this giant number. Finally,  

In terms of natural resources, BRICS wins again.  Russia is home to large natural gas reserves,   Brazil has access to the Amazon rainforest, and  China holds key rare earth reserves on its land. So, the BRICS countries win, right? Case closed.  Not quite. Even though these countries are large,  

They’re very spread out. In comparison,  the EU member-states are very close   together – moving goods from Spain to  France can be done in a single day,   and a holiday trip from Brussels to Rome is  only a short 2-hour Ryanair flight. Even the  

Longest trip across the EU, from Lisbon to  Nicosia, in Cyprus is only around 7 hours. For BRICS countries, it’s a different story.  China and Russia share a border, but Moscow is   almost over 5,700 kilometres away from Beijing.  Brazil is locked in the southern hemisphere far  

Away from either of the three in Asia, while South  Africa is tucked away at the very bottom of the   African continent. Shipping and travel take  far longer compared to their EU counterparts. Not only that, the EU has an ace up its  sleeve – the Single Market and Schengen  

Area. This means European countries who are  a part of it can move their goods, capital,   and people freely across borders. Not only is  the journey between Brazil and India longer,   but you also have to go through much more  paperwork once you finally do arrive!

There are advantages and disadvantages to  both sides, but we believe sharing tight   land borders and movement agreements  make for a stronger overall union. Let’s take a look at the economic  powers of both groups, too. Let’s not mince words – when you tally them  together, the original 5 BRICS economies  

Far outshine the EU economy. The total GDP  for BRICS is a staggering $25.9 trillion,   putting it far ahead of the EU’s 16.7  trillion. The BRICS economies also   tend to be faster-growing, with India  shooting ahead with a very healthy 6.3%   annual growth rate and Brazil enjoying  a steady, but decelerating, 3% average.

In the EU, growth is much slower. Even  the fastest growing economies are only   seeing average increases of around 2% to  2.5%. Except for the Republic of Ireland,   who’s growing at a 5.6% rate  this year. You go, Ireland. But again, numbers don’t tell you the  whole story. For one, take a look at  

The BRICS economies side-by-side. You  see that it’s incredibly unbalanced! China, with a GDP worth $18 trillion, accounts  for well over half of the BRICS economies. South   Africa, on the other hand, looks tiny with its  $400 billion. Russia, supposedly one of the great  

International powers, has a similar GDP as Italy.  Though this is to be expected, partly due to the   heavy sanctions the country has been facing from  the Western bloc due to the invasion of Ukraine. In the EU, the spread is more balanced.  Of course, large countries like France,  

Germany, Italy, and Spain dominate, but  Eastern Europe is quickly catching up.   The EU budget also means that many of the  economies falling behind get more EU money,   thereby allowing them to grow quicker.  BRICS countries are simply on their own.

And let’s not forget the Euro, which plays a  crucial role in the EU’s economic unity and   strength. As a single currency shared by many of  its member states, the Euro facilitates seamless   trade and economic stability within the EU,  contrasting the varied currencies and monetary  

Policies of the BRICS nations. The BRICS have  talked about a common currency in the past,   but so far, these discussions have  not resulted in concrete action,   highlighting a key difference in the level of  economic integration between the EU and the BRICS.

Finally, the BRICS countries rarely act as one  body on the international stage. They usually   sign their own trade agreements and set their own  tariffs when dealing with third nations. The EU,   on the other hand, has signed trade  agreements with the United States,  

Japan, Australia, Argentina, and many  more. All tariffs are set at the EU level,   meaning the taxes paid on goods coming into  France are the same paid on ones coming into Poland or Cyprus. But what about politics? Are the BRICS countries  as close as their European counterparts?

The political aspect is what truly  sets apart the EU from the BRICS. The BRICS group is made up of largely independent  members who each have wildly different economies,   cultures, and geopolitical goals. Sometimes,  these countries even fight amongst themselves! For example, India and China  are still locked in a heated  

Dispute over the highly-profitable Kashmir region. I have made it very clear frankly, publicly  as well, India-China relations are not   normal and cannot be normal if the peace and  tranquillity in the border areas is disturbed. India also isn’t entirely committed to  defending their would-be allies. India  

Has been relatively quiet about Russia’s invasion  of Ukraine, and is now starting to turn away from   purchasing their goods as the price of Russian  oil begins to rise. India has also reduced its   defence purchases from Russia and is starting to buy  more from the US, France, and Israel instead.

Not only that, for the BRICS summit  held in Johannesburg this year,   Russian President Vladimir Putin was forced  to attend via video call. South Africa is   part of the International Criminal Court, their  authorities would have been forced to arrest  

Putin once he stepped onto South African soil.  It’s hardly a good look for an international   organisation when one member has to officially acknowledge another members leader as a criminal Nonetheless, the BRICS are growing. Fast. In January Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt,  

And the UAE joined the BRICS group,  now often referred to as BRICS+. And there are even more applicants! A total  of 14 countries are on the waiting list,   many of whom are expected to  join in the next expansion round.

So what does this mean? Let’s first compare the  original BRICS group to the BRICS+ group. In terms   of geography, demographics and economy, all key  metrics have gone up significantly. For example,   GDP has increased from 25.9 trillion to  28.6 trillion, a more than 10% increase.  

And if we compare this against the EU,  the difference becomes even more stark. This will mean more relevance  for the BRICS on the world stage,   but also more opportunities for division. The EU member states have their differences,  but there is much more political cohesion  

Overall. The unified response to Russia’s  invasion of Ukraine was far stronger than   many expected. The EU often acts as  one single bloc on the world stage,   though disagreements over foreign  policy are still very common. The EU is also a supranational organisation,  meaning each member state has given up some  

Degree of autonomy and sovereignty so  that it can have more power. The European   Parliament and the European Commission  have powerful international presences,   with world leaders such as Zelenskyy and Biden  visiting the Parliament to give speeches. BRICS is an international organisation. BRICS has  

No power on its own as the members retain  full sovereignty. The organisation simply   acts as a platform for the leaders to discuss  world affairs and to potentially cooperate. In fact, BRICS is so divided, it might  be more relevant to compare it to the G7,  

A collection of the 7 leading world economies  behind the international liberal world order.   This would be bad news for BRICS supporters, as  the inclusion of economic giants like the United   States, the UK, and Japan means the G7 total GDP,  at $51.6 trillion, dwarfs the BRICS countries.

At EU Made Simple, we like initiatives that  promote international cooperation. However,   BRICS-Plus is fundamentally  different from the EU. In fact,   the Brics-plus may never be like the EU or Nato . But the key question is, do they need to be? Despite its advantages, the EU grapples  with issues like democratic shortcomings  

And conflicts between national sovereignty  and deeper integration. It even experienced   a member state’s departure only  a few years ago. NATO also faces   criticism for its expansionist approach  and questions about its current relevance. BRICS-Plus, meanwhile, identifies as an “informal  group of states” concentrating on the needs of  

Emerging economies. Their priorities  include fostering international trade,   promoting inclusive decision-making globally,   and providing alternatives for countries  facing sanctions, such as Russia and Iran. The BRICS-Plus group offers a different  approach to the EU, yet it is not opposed   to the West. Brazilian President Lula da Silva  emphasised this during the last summit’s opening,  

Stating, “We do not want to be a counterpoint  to the G7, G20, or the United States. We just   want to organise ourselves.” it’s crucial for the  EU to engage more with BRICS nations, fostering   equality in global institutions like the IMF and  the World Bank, and involving them more in global  

Decision-making. Without such engagement, their  current stance towards the West may turn sour. But do you disagree with our analysis? Let  us know your thoughts in the comments below! Please like and subscribe if you enjoyed the  content. If you want to support us further,   please sign up to Patreon. Until next time!