Europe's issue could be that it lacks commodities and raw materials. It has no big production or manufacturing sectors. All of which contribute to make it dependent on outside regions to provide these imports.
Well, Europe sans Russia is not an entirely resource-rich area. There may be some countries that have oil deposits somewhere but it dwarfs when compared to Russia. There are huge coal mines in Germany but those are no longer efficient, or no longer viable as a source of energy given how detrimental its effects are in the environment.
You are right about Europe being highly-dependent on other countries for imports. Had it not been the case, I think Europe has the power to export a lot of stuff just like China. Then again, you have an economy that is built upon imports and that is doomed to fail.