“Lots is at stake” in EU-US relations, Ursula von der Leyen mentioned the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The European Union can have a “pragmatic” angle in direction of the brand new administration of Donald Trump however “at all times” stand able to defend its strategic pursuits towards any unjustified measure, Ursula von der Leyen mentioned on Tuesday in a speech that set the tone for a way Brussels intends to have interaction with Washington within the subsequent 4 years.
Throughout his marketing campaign, Trump threatened to impose across-the-board tariffs on overseas items and closely revise help for Ukraine, setting alarm bells ringing throughout the bloc. The Republican president has nonetheless tamped down each threats since coming into workplace.
“Lots is at stake for either side,” the president of the European Fee mentioned on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland.
“Our first precedence will probably be to have interaction early, focus on frequent pursuits, and be prepared to barter. We will probably be pragmatic, however we’ll at all times stand by our ideas. To guard our pursuits and uphold our values – that’s the European manner,” she added, referring to the commerce instruments the Fee has at its disposal to counteract tariffs and quotas.
Von der Leyen, who advocates robust transatlantic ties, described the US as of 1 the EU’s “closest companions” with deeply interlinked financial ties, from funding and employment to chemical manufacturing and digital companies, one thing that, in her view, ought to assist foster cooperation slightly than confrontation.
“No different economies on this planet are as built-in as we’re,” she mentioned.
Requested by the host if the EU might afford to help Ukraine in case of an American withdrawal, von der Leyen mentioned the bloc would proceed doing so “with none query”.
“No matter occurs subsequent, for us it is necessary that Ukraine stays an impartial nation and that it’s Ukraine that decides by itself territory,” she answered.
The speech marked von der Leyen’s first main intervention since falling unwell with extreme pneumonia in early January. The illness pressured the Fee to cancel all her exterior appointments and briefly delegate to Government Vice President Teresa Ribera.
Her absence from Brussels prompted a debate a couple of energy vacuum at a fragile time for Europe, with a transition below manner on the White Home. On Tuesday, von der Leyen sought to reassert herself as a number one voice within the political dialog, even when she didn’t present any hard-hitting strains towards Trump’s nationalist “America First” agenda, which is immediately at odds with the EU’s long-standing dedication to multilateralism.
She didn’t point out Trump by title.
Probably the most essential comment was made obliquely, when she defended the Paris local weather deal that the American president has, as soon as once more, renounced. “The Paris Settlement continues to be one of the best hope of all humanity,” she mentioned. “Europe will keep the course, and hold working with all nations that need to shield nature and cease world warming.”
Since Trump’s victory in November, the Fee has been exercising excessive warning to keep away from antagonising the brand new administration. The manager provided lukewarm reactions to Trump’s navy threats towards Greenland, which belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, and Elon Musk’s makes an attempt to intrude in European elections, incomes a rebuke from the French authorities, which demanded swifter regulatory motion.
Von der Leyen’s group is in search of early contacts with their counterparts in Washington, though no date for conferences has but been introduced.
A ‘harsh’ world
Talking on the World Financial Discussion board, which each January gathers heads of presidency with enterprise leaders and entrepreneurs, von der Leyen used the stage to decry the fractures undermining world commerce, akin to provide chain shocks, power weaponisation and sabotage towards essential infrastructure.
Von der Leyen warned the rising use of sanctions, export controls and tariffs – instruments that her Fee has notably employed lately – to defend nationwide safety risked fuelling a “world race to the underside” that might undo many years of prosperity.
“The cooperative world order we imagined 25 years in the past has not changed into actuality. As a substitute, we now have entered a brand new period of harsh geostrategic competitors,” she mentioned.
“The world’s main economies are vying for entry to uncooked supplies, new applied sciences and world commerce routes. From AI to wash tech, from quantum to area, from the Arctic to the South-China Sea. The race is on.”
The a number of challenges are notably daunting for the EU, which has plunged right into a state of financial stagnation, lack of competitiveness and demographic change that has develop into an intense headache for the 27 member states.
Von der Leyen has promised to place the economic system on the core of her second mandate and fulfil the suggestions laid out by Mario Draghi in his landmark report. Bringing down power costs, unlocking funding throughout the Single Market and chopping down pink tape for small-sized firms will probably be among the many key actions of her new Fee, she mentioned on Tuesday as a preview.
Commerce offers will probably be given a lift, she added, touting the just lately concluded offers with Mercosur and Mexico. She intends to journey to India to improve business ties.
“Within the final 25 years, Europe has relied on the rising tide of world commerce to drive its progress. It has relied on low-cost power from Russia. And Europe has too usually outsourced its personal safety. However these days are gone,” she mentioned.
“To maintain our progress within the subsequent quarter of the century, Europe should shift gears.”
Von der Leyen saved some area for China, a rustic with which her Fee has repeatedly clashed over Beijing’s shut ties with Moscow, industrial subsidies, espionage, sabotage, cyber-attacks, human rights violations and rigidity within the Taiwan Strait.
Her presidency has been credited for shifting the EU’s China coverage in direction of a extra assertive and hard-boiled method, which angered Beijing however happy Washington.
In her speech, von der Leyen spoke of a “second China shock” triggered by “state-sponsored over-capacity” flooding world markets with low-cost exports. This grievance, shared by developed and growing nations alike, has been met with a raft of commerce restrictions to regulate the quantity of China-made merchandise.
Von der Leyen mentioned her government would proceed responding to any unfair practices, because it did with electrical autos, however prolonged her hand to work “constructively” with Beijing to broaden financial ties “the place potential”.
“The principles of engagement between world powers are altering. We must always not take something with no consideration. And whereas some in Europe could not like this new actuality, we’re able to cope with it,” she mentioned as she concluded her intervention in Davos.
“Our values don’t change. However to defend these values in a altering world, we should change the way in which we act. We should search for new alternatives wherever they come up. That is the second to have interaction past blocs and taboos. And Europe is prepared for change.”
