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Published on 15/09/2025 – 15:34 GMT+2
•Updated
15:53

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A French liberal MEP has gathered signatures from 20 other lawmakers for a letter seen by Euronews calling on the European Commission to review its commitment made under the EU-US trade agreement to purchase US energy.

In the document— soon to be sent to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen—the MEPs led by Christophe Grudler of Renew call on the EU executive to reconsider its pledge to buy $750 billion worth of US energy products over the next three years.

These products include liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil, nuclear fuels, and small modular reactors (SMRs). The signatories argue the deal will undermine the EU’s climate goals, industrial competitiveness, and strategic sovereignty.

“Increasing LNG imports from US shale gas directly undermines our climate agenda and our methane emissions regulation,” the letter says, adding: “LNG is highly polluting when liquefied, shipped across the Atlantic and regasified. Such dependence is a climate time-bomb.”

The initiative was launched by Christophe Grudler, a French MEP from the liberal Renew group.

The letter also warns that beyond energy concerns, the deal risks exposing the EU to “political blackmail”, the US demanding changes to EU climate policies, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, under which the bloc will apply levies on the carbon footprint of foreign imports from 1 January 2026.

The energy purchase commitment forms part of the EU-US agreement reached over the summer.

Some MEPs view the arrangement as deeply unbalanced, given that the US continues to impose 15% tariffs on EU goods, while the EU has agreed to make major investments in the US, including in the energy and defence sectors.

‘Economic imbalance’

In their letter to the Commission, MEPs also slam what they describe as the “economic imbalance” created by the pledge to purchase $250 billion’s worth of energy over three years. 

The letter describes this figure as “astronomical” adding: “To put this in perspective, the entire Competitiveness Fund proposed in the MFF amounts to €362 billion over seven years. How can we ask European companies to massively buy from the US while urging them to strengthen our competitiveness at home?”

The inclusion of US small modular reactors in the deal has also raised concerns among MEPs.

“At a time when the EU is building its own SMR supply chain, opening the door to US competitors is total nonsense.”

They further stress that commercial decisions “should remain the prerogative of companies, not be preempted by political pledges.”

Published on
03/09/2025 – 8:00 GMT+2

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MEPs are set to complain widely about the EU-US trade agreement when they confront Commission trade chief and agreement negotiator Sabine Weyand during a Parliamentary hearing on the deal on Wednesday.  

“While clearly we understand that the EU has chosen stability, diplomacy and to keep a cool-minded approach, however this cannot translate into the acceptance of an unfair and asymmetric trade relation with our American friends and partners,” Italian MEP Brando Benifei.

“As it is now, it is not acceptable,” Benifei told Euronews, speaking on behalf of his Socialists & Democrats group.

Last week the Commission proposed reducing tariffs on most US industrial goods, as well as less sensitive agricultural products, to 0%, as it began implementing the agreement reached with the US at the end of August. At the same time, the agreement provides that the EU will pay a 15% tariff on its exports to the US.

The Commission’s legislative proposal must now navigate its way through the Parliament and the EU Council for approval.

The Greens are also speaking out against an unbalanced agreement and rejecting the Commission’s argument that it will ensure stable trade relations with the US.

“The deal has major disadvantages for the EU,” German Green MEP Anna Cavazzini said, adding: “The only ‘gain’ that the Commission is selling us is stability. However, Trump’s incessant demands and new tariff threats are turning this process into a waste of time.”

Just after the agreement was concluded, US President Donald Trump threatened countries with digital legislation — like the EU — with tariffs, accusing them of directly targeting Big Tech.

According to the German MEP, the proposal to reduce EU tariffs on US imports will clearly “not have a smooth sailing through the European Parliament.”

The agreement, which is still under discussion within the Parliament’s largest group, the centre-right EPP, has nonetheless failed to win the full support of some of its individual members within the parliamentary committee on trade.

“Capitulation”

“This is an outright capitulation — we’re committing to colossal sums for investments and pledges to purchase billions worth of chips and military equipment, while granting the US 0% tariffs,” French MEP Celine Imart (EPP) said, “all this for the reindustrialisation of the US !”

Swedish MEP Jörgen Warborn, who coordinates the work of the EPP within the trade committee, is more cautious.

“It is hard to put yourself in the situation of the negotiators of the Commission,” he told Euronews, adding: “It is good that we have a framework agreement, because hopefully this can give us more stability. But at the same time, I don’t see the deal as balanced as I would have hoped it to be.”

Within Renew, the liberal group at the Parliament, some MEPs are also angry. The treatment granted to US agricultural products — benefiting from 0% tariffs or favourable quotas for certain items — is not going down well.

“I’m outraged by the whole situation. Yes, of course, there are the US’s promises when it comes to defence, but this agreement truly exposes our total dependence, which forces us to sign just about anything,” Belgian MEP Benoit Cassart (Renew), who is also a farmer, said, adding: “I disagree with those who think the EU has ‘won’ just because things didn’t turn out worse. If that’s the logic, then next time the US will start at 50% and we’ll end up with 40% tariffs on all our exports.”

French MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, who coordinates Renew in the committee, considers too that “there is a widespread feeling that we [the EU] failed to put any real leverage on the table.”

Published on
30/07/2025 – 18:23 GMT+2

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French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the EU Commission to rebalance EU’s trade relationship with the US, particularly in the services sector, just days after a deal was reached between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump.

“To be free, one must be feared. We haven’t been feared enough,” Macron said during a meeting of the French council of ministers, French media reported, calling for “relentless efforts to rebalance trade, particularly in the services sector.”

“This is not the end of the story, and we will not stop here,” the French president added, as the EU Commission is still negotiating exemptions to the 15% US tariffs on EU imports agreed on 27 July.

Since the beginning of the tariff war with the US, France has consistently favoured a hardline approach, brandishing the threat of the anti-coercion instrument — an EU tool that allows foreign companies to be denied access to public procurement, licenses, or intellectual property rights.

The tool would enable the EU to target US services, where the bloc runs a trade deficit with the US, unlike in goods.

Countermeasures

The EU has also adopted a package of countermeasures worth €95 billion targeting US products, but these were suspended until 4 August. The Commission is now awaiting a US executive order confirming that a 15% blanket tariff will apply to imports of EU goods as of 1 August.

“Of course the measures are there,” an EU official said, adding: “They have been approved by the member states. So if there was a need, we could always bring them back on Tuesday [4 August]. But that is not the assumption from which we start this next phase in transatlantic relations.”

The French President acknowledged that negotiations with the US had been difficult, and welcomed exemptions secured for the aerospace sector, considered strategic for Paris. France also hopes that the Commission will manage to negotiate an exemption for wine and spirits, which represent France’s leading export market to the US.

“We are continuing to negotiate with the Americans so that, if possible, spirits, perhaps wine, and other sectors can be exempted. It’s a work in progress,” French Economy Minister Éric Lombard told French radio on Wednesday.

On top of aircraft, Von der Leyen on Sunday announced that zero-for-zero tariffs will apply to certain chemicals, generic drugs, semiconductor-making equipment, some agricultural products (but with the exclusion of all sensitive products like beef, rice, ethanol, sugar or poultry), some natural resources and critical raw materials.

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After weeks of negotiations, the EU and the US reached an agreement on Sunday in the tariff dispute that has split the two since mid-March: the EU will face a 15% tariff on its exports to the US, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced.

“We have stabilised on a single 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports. This rate applies across most sectors, including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals,” she said, adding “this 15% is a clear ceiling – no stacking, all-inclusive – so it gives much-needed clarity for our citizens and businesses.”

Cars, which have been subject to a 27.5% tariff for several months, will now face a 15% tariff. A modest victory for German manufacturers.

Von der Leyen also announced that zero-for-zero tariffs will apply to certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor-making equipment, some agricultural products (but with the exclusion of all sensitive products like beef, rice, ethanol, sugar or poultry), some natural resources and critical raw materials.

However, uncertainties remain regarding the details and the sectors covered by the 15% rate, the legal certainty of the deal reached on Sunday and the purchase and investment commitment of the EU.

1. No legally binding agreement yet

The agreement reached will not be legally binding for both parties for some time. When exactly remains uncertain. A joint statement is expected to be released by 1 August— the deadline set by US President Donald Trump when he threatened to impose a 30% tariff on the EU.

“It will be a relatively light joint statement” an EU official said, adding that the EU is also awaiting the adoption of an executive order by the US that would bring some certainty to what has been agreed. Until then, negotiations on exemptions to the 15% tariffs will continue.

“Given that we want to make sure that the US delivers on its parts quickly, we will also want to deliver quickly on our part,” the official said, adding: “We are currently looking into the exact legal basis together with Council and the European Parliament.” A bilateral international agreement between the EU and the US would take time, so other instruments might be considered by the Commission.

2. Which EU products are exempt?

Aircraft will be exempt from the 15% tariffs, meaning they will be sent to the US with no tariffs. The production lines in these sectors are too intertwined for the US to risk making their aircraft more expensive.

However, the EU will keep negotiating other exemptions, with wine and spirits high on its agenda. Since the beginning of the negotiation, EU industries have continuously warned about the consequences of a deal that would penalise them.

“We truly believe the trade of wine is of great benefit for both EU and US companies, and it must be included in the 0-for-0 tariff arrangement,” Marzia Varvaglione, president of the Comite europeen des entreprises de vin said in a statement on Sunday, adding: “It’s not just the EU side saying this—our US counterparts have also been strong advocates for protecting this vital exchange.”

3. Steel and aluminium: A quota system still to be negotiated

The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium. This will stay until both sides agree on a quota system. The Commission remains confident of its leverage in the coming talks however. “I think that is where economics kick in and business interests kick in,” the same EU official said, adding that the bloc’s provision of speciality steel is something that “US manufacturing badly needs”.

But the European steel industry appeared rattled on Monday. “If a zero tariff on our traditional exports to the US is confirmed, we would be going in the right direction,” Axel Eggert, director general of the European Steel Association (EUROFER) said, but he added: “There is no clarity yet. As always, the devil is in the detail.”

The uncertainty is offset by a commitment of the EU and the US to jointly fight global overcapacities, mainly coming from China.

4. Energy: The EU’s purchase commitment will depend on its industry.

The EU committed to buy $750 billions’ worth of US energy over the next three years. That’s to say $250 billion annually directed towards US liquefied natural gas, oil and nuclear industries. “We’ve been looking at our needs also in terms of the phasing out of energy imports from Russia,” the EU official said.

However the official conceded that there is no public commitment to delivering on this since the EU and its institutions will not be doing the actual buying. “We can help with aggregating demand and facilitating certain things, and we can look at where there are maybe bottlenecks in infrastructure,” the official said.

The EU also committed to purchasing US AI microchips on top of the $750 billion.

5. EU investment in the US will depend on business

EU companies will invest $600 billion in the US, according to the deal. But here again, there’s no public authority that will be monitoring this, as it is the case in the Japan-US deal reached on 22 July where investments are equity, loans and guarantees from state-run agencies.

However the Commission ensures it had detailed contacts and discussions with different business associations and companies in order to see what their investment intentions were.

“We have basically been aggregated what we know about investment intentions of private companies. And the way this will be expressed in the joint statement is that it is an intention,” another EU official said, adding: “So it is not something that the EU as a public authority can guarantee.”

Most European nations welcome the deal, but some slam it as a capitulation before the EU’s largest trading partner.

The United States and the European Union have struck a wide-ranging trade deal, imposing a 15 percent import tariff on most EU goods, evading an all-out transatlantic trade war.

The deal was hashed out on Sunday between US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland, before an August 1 deadline for the introduction of steep tariffs.

Both Trump and von der Leyen lauded the deal as an important step, with the US leader hailing it as the “biggest deal” ever made, and the EU chief stating it will bring much-needed “stability” and “predictability”.

But what are European leaders saying about the deal with the EU’s largest trading partner? Here are some reactions:

Denmark

“The trade conditions will not be as good as before, and it is not our choice, but a balance must be found that stabilises the situation and that both sides can live with,” said Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Finland

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the agreement brings “much-needed predictability to the global economy and Finnish companies”. “Work must continue to dismantle trade barriers. Only free transatlantic trade benefits both sides the most,” he said.

France

“It is a sombre day when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission,” said French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou.

Germany

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the agreement has “succeeded in averting a trade conflict that would have hit the export-orientated German economy hard”. “This applies in particular to the automotive industry, where the current tariffs of 27.5 percent will be almost halved to 15 percent.”

A government spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that Berlin sees the need for further negotiations. “It is certainly no secret that in the steel and aluminium sector … We see a need for further negotiations,” the spokesperson said during a news conference in Berlin. He added that details of the deal remained to be worked out, and that “the EU Commission and the German government are now fully committed to this.”

Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban slammed the deal. “This is not an agreement … Donald Trump ate von der Leyen for breakfast, this is what happened, and we suspected this would happen as the US president is a heavyweight when it comes to negotiations, while Madame President is featherweight,” he said.

Ireland

Irish Trade Minister Simon Harris said the deal provides a “measure of much-needed certainty for Irish, European and American businesses who together represent the most integrated trading relationship in the world”.

“While Ireland regrets that the baseline tariff of 15 percent is included in the agreement, it is important that we now have more certainty on the foundations for the EU-US trade relationship, which is essential for jobs, growth and investment,” he said.

Italy

“I consider it positive that there is an agreement, but if I don’t see the details, I am not able to judge it in the best way,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Speaking at a summit in Ethiopia, she said a “trade escalation between Europe and the United States would have had unpredictable and potentially devastating consequences”.

Meloni – a Trump ally on many issues – had warned earlier this month against a “trade war within the West”.

Romania

In a statement, the Romanian government’s press office said Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan “salutes that a trade agreement was reached and … feels it is a good omen”. “It eliminates present unclearness which caused disruptions and uncertainties in transatlantic trade relations,” it said.

Spain

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he backed the deal but “without any enthusiasm”.

“I value the constructive and negotiating attitude of the president of the European Commission. In any case, I support this trade agreement, but I do so without any enthusiasm,” he told a news conference.

Sweden

“This agreement does not make anyone richer, but it may be the least bad alternative. What appears to be positive for Sweden, based on an initial assessment, is that the agreement creates some predictability,” said Swedish Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa.