Just a few years ago, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece were considered the problem children of the European Union (EU), especially within the group of 20 countries that form the so-called eurozone.

This has fundamentally changed, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recently emphasizing at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that the EU's southern periphery could also "contribute solutions to common problems."

More than a decade after the European sovereign debt crisis brought the four countries close to financial collapse, robust growth has returned to the continent's South.

Spain, for example, has become a veritable producer and exporter of renewable energy — especially solar power — helping itself and others amid the energy crisis triggered by Russia's war in Ukraine.

From a broader European perspective, however, the outlook is far from bright. The eurozone economy as a whole is stagnating. In the fourth quarter of 2024, growth in the euro area remained unchanged compared to the previous quarter. Overall, only the summer quarter was a trifle brighter, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing 0.4% over the year.

Many experts blame the persistent weakness of Europe's largest economy, Germany, for the stagnation.

Germany's GDP contracted by 0.2% in both the fourth quarter and the full year of 2024. Alexander Krüger, chief economist at one of Germany's........

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