A European commerce union federation representing 7 million service employees throughout the continent has known as for European establishments to reassess public procurement contracts awarded to US corporations, together with Amazon Net Providers (AWS), in gentle of the continued commerce spat between the 2 sides of the Atlantic.
With reviews that US President Donald Trump is about to announce a complete set of ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on EU exports on 2 April, UNI Europa “believes it’s crucial that Europe take decisive steps to safeguard its financial sovereignty, democratic values and employees’ rights,” in keeping with the assertion revealed on Wednesday.
On 1 April, European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen hinted at a “sturdy plan to retaliate”, which could goal the US surplus in providers by, amongst different measures, excluding US tech corporations from public procurement contracts.
AWS has received a number of public contracts with varied Fee departments however can also be a key contractor for the US authorities, together with intelligence companies.
“Given the rising adversarial dynamics in transatlantic commerce relations, permitting AWS to host essential European information poses an unacceptable danger,” UNI claims.
In latest months, there have been nearer hyperlinks between Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the administration of Republican President Donald Trump. Bezos, who additionally owns newspaper the Washington Submit, has additionally restricted opinions on the paper in a transfer praised by Trump.
In accordance with UNI, the EU establishments ought to “conduct an intensive overview of current and deliberate public contracts with AWS,” and “discover the usage of current regulatory instruments to make sure that public funds aren’t awarded to corporations undermining core EU values.”
Amazon didn’t touch upon the particular claims, however mentioned in a latest blogpost that it contributes to Europe’s competitiveness, “by important investments and unwavering dedication to serving our European clients.”
The European Fee didn’t remark.
