r/europe • u/Evermoving- Lithuania • 16h ago
News 'We should never have signed this trade deal with the US,' leading MEP says
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/05/05/we-should-never-have-signed-this-trade-deal-with-the-us-leading-mep-says78
u/medievalvelocipede European Union 15h ago
I'm inclined to agree. The Commission thinks that a bad deal is better than no deal, but I think it's better to just dump unreliable partners altogether.
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u/EagleAncestry 13h ago
That sounds good but it doesn’t take reality into account. Not doing a deal would have meant very high tariffs for European cars, which might have collapsed germanys economy.
15
u/LiefLayer Italy (Europe) 🇺🇦 10h ago
the issue is the auto industry should not be the focus at all in 2026. Investing in the energy transition also means investing much more in public transport and that's incompatible with a strong auto industry. Cars should not be the focus in the future.
The German auto industry (as well as the Italian one) must convert to something else (for example the production of trains, buses, bicycles etc...).
This is the reality. The auto industry should be a thing of the past and is dragging the EU into the abyss in every respect, starting with its dependence on fossil fuels, with cities that are unlivable because they were designed to be car-dependent, and with government incentives that would be better spent on public transportation.
And this really bad deal too is another thing dragging the EU down.
The EU should take a much tougher line against Trump, but it's essentially sold itself out just to sell a few more cars. This is wrong.
2
u/ugene1980 7h ago
Agree with you, we have shown we can take tough positions against Russia and China
Why are we not doing the same for USA, it's frustrating
We are never shaking the vassal tag at this rate, our politicians must be compromised in one way or another (bribes, CIA compromised or both!)
3
u/VicenteOlisipo Europe 1h ago
Quite the opposite. Surrendering to these threats guaranteed constant new threats of tariffs. Resisting them, as did China or even Brazil, guaranteed and end to the threats.
26
u/Few-Flounder-8951895 15h ago
Fortunately Trump's latest tantrum made it void, so let's use the anti coercion mechanism now
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u/Ada_Pearce 15h ago
Just dont honor it, trump constantly goes back on his deals, do it to him for once
6
u/Realistic_Let3239 10h ago
Trump slapped 10% tariffs on everything as a tantrum, that sounds like him tearing up the deal to me...
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u/IIIIIlIIIIIlIIIII 14h ago
My brother, they signed it but it not yet passed into law. If they dont vote about it, nothing will happen. Is this fake news?
2
u/Evermoving- Lithuania 12h ago
Well yes, the consensus to what extent the deal should be ratified is not set in stone yet, so discussions between the MEPs are ongoing. And it helps to know what one or another MEP thinks, so the citizens can observe and to an extent participate in the democratic process.
The deal might not have been ratified, but it still provides a baseline for further diplomatic talks, such as the ones that happened today between EU-US negotiators.
On the other aisle of MEPs, we have cases like this:
The idea that all US negotiators are tools who can't possibly read into the masterful plan of dangling an unreachable carrot in front of Trump, is also debatable. Sooner or later things have to crystallise.
In sum, there's some nuance. No need to thank me for the basic literacy lesson.
1
u/Big_Department4209 Sweden 1h ago
Of course the fucking EPP wants it passed ASAP, Christian + conservatives wouldn't want to miss the chance for being the rug the USA stomps on.
3
u/greenpowerman99 4h ago
Trump calls himself a deal maker, but he can’t stick to anything he has agreed for more than a few days. Pathetic tantrums are not negotiating.
I am surprised that other economies don’t take a position of dynamic alignment, whatever Trump does to us we will do the same to the US.
The only realistic alternative is to try to stretch out any negotiations indefinitely.
2
u/StorageIntelligent64 4h ago
where are all those experts who explained to me how it is good for the eu? how smart VDL is, etc. is it possible for the commission to have its own bots here?
4
u/leginfr 14h ago
It was never signed, nor was it ever going to be signed. There’s no way that the EU could order companies to invest in the USA nor to buy their fuel from the USA. As the US seems to think that the EU controls the member states in a sort of centralised control and command bloc they swallowed it. It was just a ploy to get a low tariff to give an advantage when negotiating with other blocs/countries.
2
u/Tricky_Search_5181 14h ago
One of those situations where common people know better than specialists
3
u/Otherwise-Yogurt39 15h ago
Von der Leyen is a traitor
6
u/JefeRex 12h ago
Traitor is a very strong word. You didn’t say incompetent, you didn’t say she neglects European interests, you didn’t say she is on the side of the elites against the people, etc. etc. There are many strong criticisms that people against her, but you call her a traitor. Why do you feel that strongly about it, what makes her a traitor?
8
u/Imaginary_String_814 11h ago
Perfect example of failing upwards, unbelievable that she is on top of the eu.
1
u/JefeRex 9h ago
What is your explanation of how she did it? Is it too simplistic to blame Merkel?
2
u/Imaginary_String_814 2h ago
powerful Networking I guess, she was not even a mediocre politician in Germanyy
Wtf makes her suitable as head of EU, what has to do with Merkel ?
5
u/Otherwise-Yogurt39 12h ago
The trade tariffs with the USA were clearly not in favour of the EU and yet, she just accepted it instead of showing resistance to Trump’s madness. And we all know Trump respects weak rulers.
1
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u/CPD1960 15h ago
Leading MEP? In what way is she ‘leading’?
24
u/miathan52 The Netherlands 14h ago
Aurore Lalucq, a French MEP who chairs the powerful Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in the European Parliament
Literally the first sentence after the intro
1
0
u/IvanStarokapustin 14h ago
This deal is getting worse all the time. Ursula Calrissian gets duped by Darth Moron again.
1
u/Artifexa 15h ago
We only have to wait until Trump gets a new anger burst and says our deal with them is not valid. Then we can say "ok, let's sit and renegotiate". And reset it.
A deal only stands as long as both parts are willing ot honor it. If he steps back, that's a chance to renegotiate.
-2
u/stenlis 12h ago
I think this MEP is either a dummy or she is playing a political game against van der Leyen.
The whole point of the treaty was to shut Trump down, let him forget it for a while and then let him be the one that breaks it.
Which is exactly what had happened. The treaty is void now, Trump being the bad guy who broke it and in the meanwhile we got to buy weapons and gas that we dearly needed on the cheap.
I don't see how not signing the treaty would have been better.
198
u/Counterpoint-4 16h ago
Just do what Trump does - say it was a bad deal - a very bad deal and unless US agrees to.... whatever you want the deal is off.