The European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification, Valdis Dombrovskis, set competitiveness and security as the priorities of the European Union in relation to the United States, with the new direction that Donald Trump is marking from the White House.
Dombrovskis recalled at the breakfast briefing organised by New Economy Forum in the EU capital that the European Commission has begun to work on a list of priorities to face the new Administration of Donald Trump. One is competitiveness, including (legislative) simplification, and the other is security, the commissioner explained.
The European Commission is in a hurry to define these priorities, as Dombrovskis pointed out, in view of the recent American actions. In recent weeks, the Trump administration announced tariffs for the EU and started negotiations with Russia, without involving Europe, to resolve the war in Ukraine.
In addition to boosting competitiveness so that Europe can reduce its gap with the United States, as also evidenced by the Draghi Report, the shift in US foreign and defence policy requires attention to defence.
It is very clear right now that we in the European Commission are very deeply engaged, given the events of the last few weeks. It is clear that we are less able to rely on the United States for European security, admitted the Commissioner.
This change is forcing Europe to make new decisions on security and defence, and to look for new formulas to guarantee the budget and that the money reaches the member states.
Given that the Community accounts are multiannual, with the current framework in force until 2027, Dombrovskis stressed the urgency of acting quickly and not waiting until the next budgets, which in practice would mean that the money for Defence would start arriving in 2029.
To prevent this from happening, the Commission is proposing a relaxation of the fiscal rules so that states can allocate greater investment to Defence. This is our direct response to what has been happening in recent weeks, concluded the Commissioner.
