Did Europe Just Pass the U.S.?

Did Europe just pass the U.S. in the race for being the leading society in the 21st Century? 

Listening to the BBC last night, a representative from Europe kept calling Europe a "community of values."  It is also the second largest trading bloc for the rest of the world. 

Europe's leadership is not just moral (climate change, for example), but economic (if your airplanes are not compliant with our pollution standards, you don't land here).