Trump’s Greenland Tariffs Have Blown Up the EU Appeasement Plan

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Over a year later, however, much of the blueprint remains unfulfilled, while the US and China threaten to swallow Europe economically and Russia menaces on its borders.

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Some officials suggested that von der Leyen was more drawn to the spotlight of meetings with world leaders and international issues than the minutiae of domestic economic policies. 

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“Anyone who has worked with her knows that this claim is completely unfounded and lacks factual basis,” Pinho said in response. 

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Other officials argued that von der Leyen hasn’t empowered the commissioners overseeing various policy files. Von der Leyen’s team, they said, retains tight control over day-to-day operations across the EU’s executive branch, drafting proposals that normally go through other departments, directing internal communications and making the final say on even minor job appointments. 

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The result, they say, is delay at a time when Europe cannot afford it.

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Draghi himself cautioned in September that the EU was moving too slowly on needed economic reforms. “To carry on as usual is to resign ourselves to falling behind,” he said in a speech, with von der Leyen in the audience.

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Pinho disputed the officials’ perception, arguing the commission used “an inclusive decision process” and that “the urgency mindset of this commission is blatantly clear.” She said von der Leyen was also leading on economic files, citing the South American deal and late-stage trade negotiations with India.

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And von der Leyen’s trade strategy with the US, Pinho added, was a faithful reflection of what EU leaders and businesses wanted from Brussels. 

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Even von der Leyen’s critics acknowledge she has led Europe through historic crises, often with success. Her centralized leadership may have even helped in these situations, they said. 

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In her first term, von der Leyen put the EU in charge of coordinating vaccine purchases and convinced countries to take on joint debt to help people weather the economic fallout.

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Later, when Russia sent troops streaming into Ukraine, von der Leyen’s team worked closely with US President Joe Biden to coordinate tough sanctions on Moscow. She then pushed Europe to sever its deep Russian energy ties and helped ensure that billions kept flowing to Ukraine, even after Trump cut off US aid.

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Economically, she hit Chinese electric vehicles with tariffs, despite intense German lobbying against the move. 

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Then there is the trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries, the one von der Leyen was in Paraguay to sign on Saturday. The pact is the EU’s largest-ever free-trade agreement. It took 25 years of stop-start negotiations to get it finalized.

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These are all major achievements, officials say. None of them were a given.

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Trump’s Return

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But von der Leyen started her second term just weeks before Trump returned to the White House, quickly pulling attention to a potential transatlantic trade war and the loss of US support for Ukraine.

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The EU chief moved swiftly to strike a trade accord, even if it meant making painful compromises, following the guidance of many EU countries. 

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In July, von der Leyen flew to Trump’s golf resort in Scotland to pose for thumbs-up photos with the president after signing a deal that accepted a 15% tariff on EU exports to the US, while removing all tariffs on US industrial goods and some agricultural products entering the single market.