EU response to Trump’s tariffs will be ‘unflinching’: von der Leyen

During her Davos speech, Ursula von der Leyen outlined four key principles to guide the European Union’s approach to Greenland and the Arctic region:

1. Full solidarity with Denmark and Greenland. “The sovereignty and integrity of their territory is non-negotiable,” she said.
2. A “massive” surge in investment in Greenland to support “the local economy and infrastructure” on the island.
3. Cooperation with the US and Western allies to strengthen Arctic security, building on the defence initiatives that the EU has rolled out in recent years.
4. Closer cooperation with regional partners, such as the UK, Norway and Iceland, to reinforce security partnerships. She also added Canada, which is on the other side of the Atlantic, to the list of regional partners.

She then notes that the European Commission’s upcoming “security strategy” will include an upgrade to the Arctic strategy, with a focus on Greenland. “At the heart of this will be the fundamental principle: It is for sovereign people to decide their own future,” she says.

If Donald Trump goes ahead with the 10% tariffs against eight European countries to force the sale of Greenland, the European Union’s response will be “unflinching”, von der Leyen just said in Davos.

“We consider the people of the United States not just our allies, but our friends,” she said. “And plunging us into a dangerous downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of our strategic landscape. So our response will be unflinching, united and proportional.”

The Commission has put on the table a list of retaliatory measures worth €93 billion, which was drafted during last year’s trade negotiations but was never used. The executive also has at its disposal the Anti-Coercion Instrument, which would enable broader tit-for-tat across multiple economic sectors, such as services, investment, intellectual property and public procurement.

Von der Leyen concludes her speech by addressing the crisis over Greenland triggered by Donald Trump’s 10% tariff, which would hit six EU countries, the UK and Norway.

“When it comes to the security of the Arctic region, Europe is fully committed. And we share the objectives of the United States in this regard,” she says.

“Arctic security can only be achieved together. This is why the proposed additional tariffs are a mistake, especially between long-standing allies.”

Von der Leyen then points to the trade deal that she and Trump agreed on last year in Scotland, which introduced an all-inclusive 15% tariff on most EU goods. Despite its lopsided terms, the European Commission insisted that the agreement would help inject stability and predictability in commercial transatlantic relations. This promise is now up in the air after Trump’s 10% threat.

“In politics as in business: a deal is a deal,” von der Leyen says. “And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.”

Privately, EU officials and diplomats say that if Trump goes ahead with his 10% threat, the Scotland deal will immediately fall apart.

Ursula von der Leyen continues her speech with a defence of free trade, which inevitably reads as a rebuke to Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

The recently signed EU-Mercosur trade deal, she says, sends a “powerful message to the world”.

“We are choosing fair trade over tariffs. Partnership over isolation. Sustainability over exploitation. And that we are serious about de-risking our economies and diversifying our supply chains,” she says.

More trade deals are in the works with Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. An EU-India agreement is on the verge of conclusion, she added, referring to her upcoming visit to the country on 27 January.

“There is still work to do. But we are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement,” she says about the India deal. “Indeed, some call it the mother of all deals. One that would create a market of 2 billion people, accounting for almost a quarter of global GDP. And, crucially, that would provide a first-mover advantage for Europe with one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic economies.”

“Europe wants to do business with the growth centres of today and the economic powerhouses of this century,” she went on. “From Latin America to the Indo-Pacific and far beyond, Europe will always choose the world. And the world is ready to choose Europe.”

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has taken the floor at the World Economic Forum in Davos, beginning her speech with a pitch about “European independence”.

“The world may be very different today, without any question. But I believe the lesson is very much the same. That geopolitical shocks can – and must – serve as an opportunity for Europe. And in my view, the seismic change we are going through today is an opportunity, in fact, a necessity to build a new form of European independence,” she told the audience in Davos.

“This need is neither new nor a reaction to recent events. It has been a structural imperative for far longer.”

The European Union, she added, can only “capitalise” on the far-reaching changes if it admits the changes to the world order are here to stay.

“Of course, nostalgia is part of our human story. But nostalgia will not bring back the old order. And playing for time – and hoping for things to revert soon – will not fix the structural dependencies we have,” she went on. “So my point is: if this change is permanent, then Europe must change permanently too. It is time to seize this opportunity and build a new independent Europe.”

An EU official has told Euronews that “all member states agree with the importance” of Thursday’s extraordinary meeting and that it will take place as foreseen at 19.00 CET.

Doubts were briefly raised overnight about Emmanuel Macron’s attendance after Donald Trump made public texts the two leaders had exchanged in which the French president invited his US counterpart to a meeting and dinner at the Elysée on the same evening.

But at the summit this morning, the official added that “President Macron confirmed his presence”.

European Commissioners will on Thursday convene for a Security College, an official confirmed to Euronews.

This will be the second time this format will be held after being created in March last year by Ursula von der Leyen in March in order for Commissioners to be “regularly briefed on security developments, from external and internal security to energy, defence, research, cybernetics, trade, and foreign interference”.

The US President also doubled down overnight on his tariff diplomacy, threatening to slap an additional 200% tariff on French wine and Champagne following Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to accept his invitation to join the Gaza Board of Peace.

Asked by reporters in Miami about Macron’s refusal, Trump said: “Well, nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon.”

“So you know, that’s all right. What I’ll do is, if they feel like [being] hostile, I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join.”

A source in the French president’s entourage said they “have taken note” of Trump’s latest threat.

“As we have always emphasised, tariff threats to influence our foreign policy are unacceptable and ineffective,” they added.

More from Donald Trump’s overnight social media. He posted a text message from French President Emmanuel Macron that says:

“My friend,

We are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland. Let us try to build great things:

1) I can set up a G7 meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon. I can invite the Ukrainians, the Danish, the Syrians, the Russians in the margins.

2) Let us have a dinner together in Paris together on Thursday before you go back to the US.

Emmanuel.”

The text message, which has been confirmed by a source in the French president’s entourage, is remarkable because Macron appears to propose a meeting and a dinner with Trump on Thursday, the same day that EU leaders are scheduled to meet for an extraordinary summit.

Additionally, Macron is willing to invite a Russian delegation to the margins of a G7 meeting, which would represent a big break from Europe’s strategy to diplomatically isolate the Kremlin. Earlier this month, Macron suggested reopening direct communication with Vladimir Putin, an idea backed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

For the past four years, European leaders have been working overtime to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russia’s war of aggression, often putting together strongly worded statements of condemnation, holding phone calls at late hours and getting together for hastily convened crisis meetings.

But now, the script has been flipped dramatically and European leaders find themselves doing the exact same thing – joint statements, phone calls and crisis meetings – to defend Denmark’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against a country that, on paper, is supposed to be their time-honoured ally and main security guarantor: the United States.

The parallelism exemplifies the impossible puzzle that Europe, as a political family bound by a shared commitment to international law, faces in the second Trump era.

Read the analysis.

Donald Trump posted overnight a digitally altered picture of himself with European leaders in the White House that shows him next to a map that depicts Greenland, Canada and Venezuela as part of the territory of the United States, echoing his self-styled “Donroe Doctrine”.

The original picture is from August, when European leaders hastily flew to Washington to meet with Trump after his contentious meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Trump posted another picture that shows him, alongside Vice President VD Jance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, placing the American flag on Greenland, which is described as “US Territory Est. 2026”.

The social media posts are an ominous sign for European diplomacy.

The US President said earlier this morning that he agreed to a meeting “of the various parties” in Davos on Wednesday during a “good” call with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Greenland.

But he doubled down on his claim that total US control over Greenland, the semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, is “imperative for National and World Security”.

“There can be no going back – On that, everyone agrees!” Trump wrote.

Good morning everyone and welcome to the second day of our special coverage on the row opposing the US and Europe over Donald Trump’s bid to annex Greenland.

Today, you can expect coverage from Davos – where Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to give speeches and lots of meetings are expected to happen behind closed doors – as well as Brussels, where EU finance ministers are meeting.

Time to buckle up for another intense news day.