Abstract
Germany is currently once again the third largest economy in the world. However, the idea of size associated with this is wrong. Germany’s share of the global economy is only 4.3%, in purchasing power terms only 3.2%, and it will continue to fall. Today, only the USA and China are economically significant; Germany was once big - more than 100 years ago. Today, Germany can only exert influence together with its European neighbours. It is questionable whether this will succeed within the framework of the 27-member EU or whether some issues would not be better pursued in smaller groups.