Neonborden met ‘billions and billions spent’ erop gaan geen vijanden afschrikken. Over de worsteling van herbewapening tijdens een militaire transformatie. Molumn: Om te overleven, moet ‘Europa’ politiek en militair snel opnieuw worden uitgevonden www.volkskrant.nl/cs-bfca115e/

Om te overleven, moet ‘Europa’ politiek en militair snel opnieuw worden uitgevonden

volkskrant.nl

Today, the EU-Mercosur agreement begins to apply provisionally. The benefits are real and visible as of now. Tariffs start falling. Companies are gaining access to new markets. Investors have the predictability they need.

It began with coal and steel. But from the very start, our Union was always meant to be much more. 75 years ago, in Paris, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Europe chose a different path. One of unity over division, of peace over war.

75 years ago, the Treaty of Paris was signed, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. Six countries joined forces to build a shared market, choosing cooperation over conflict. Born from the desire for peace after WWII, this treaty laid the foundation for the Union we know today. 🇪🇺

Molumn. Oekraïne belichaamt nu de hoop voor een vrij, zelfredzaam Europa www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-...

Oekraïne belichaamt nu de hoop voor een vrij, zelfredzaam Europa

volkskrant.nl

Interview in het FD over nauwere samenwerking ("enhanced cooperation") in de EU na de top van Alden Biesen. Kortom: een goede strategie om momentum te creëren, maar “het zou jammer zijn als dit geen tussenoplossing blijkt, maar een toestand van toenemende versplintering." fd.nl/politiek/158...

Verlamde EU wil doorpakken en zet kopgroepen in om dwarsliggers te omzeilen

Unanimiteit verlamt vaak de besluitvorming in Brussel. Met kopgroepen kunnen lidstaten alvast vooruitlopen en treuzelaars onder druk zetten om aan te haken. Er zijn ook risico’s: ‘Het zou jammer zijn als een Europa van meerdere snelheden geen tussenoplossing blijkt, maar een toestand van toenemende versplintering.’

fd.nl

Historic day!🇪🇺🤝🇨🇦 Amidst global shifts, Canada and the EU are strengthening ties when needed most. Pleasure to sign w Minister McGuinty important agreement under the #SAFE instrument this morning! It will boost our industries & security, strengthen our defence cooperation & economic ties.

Today in @theguardian.com, I argue that Donald Trump’s foreign-policy playbook is increasingly about attention capture, or what I call geopolitical clickbait. Plus I outline why this matters for Europe & what to do about it. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump wants our attention. Let’s stop falling for his geopolitical clickbait | Catherine De Vries

Whether he’s targeting Greenland, tariffs or Iran, Trump’s agenda is to distract – because a Europe that is always reacting is never planning, says political scientist Catherine De Vries

theguardian.com

There is no break on #SAFE! 🚀 8 more national investment plans approved just now. ~€75B in #EUDefence funding, moving us closer to collective strength. ⏩ What’s next: Council decisions for fast disbursement. And we continue working on the remaing plans.

The display of the flags of the EU, the EU Military Staff, and our maritime missions ATALANTA and ASPIDES at India’s Republic Day is a powerful symbol of our deepening security cooperation. It will culminate tomorrow in the signature of our Security and Defence Partnership.

Good to see a contingent representing the European Union, led by Colonel Spruijt acting on behalf of the EU Military Staff, at the #RepublicDay parade.

Motie: 21501-20-2374 Europese Raad Motie van het lid Erkens c.s. over in de Raad steun uitspreken voor het voorlopig in werking laten treden van het EU-Mercosurakkoord tweedekamer.nl

Agriculture is only a tiny part of EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement • EU tariff cuts on Mercosur-made meat will apply only to small share of European imports • Real economic rationale of deal could lie in industrial and services trade, as well as mineral products www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

"Think the unthinkable". Yesterday's speech by German Foreign Office State Secretary von Geyr expresses the horror at both Trump's Greenland threats and the "Board of Peace" by many in German foreign policy establishment. Both named alongside Russia's war against Ukraine as turning points.

I think deterrence... worked. Europe's response was actually strong. They sent forces to Denmark, they threatened to retaliate with tariffs, they talked about selling US debt, they made markets nervous and it looked like Trump TACO'd... for now.

The feeling is mutual. We don‘t recognize the United States anymore. And it breaks my heart. Greetings from Europe!

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 7mo ago

Trump: "Certain places in Europe are not even recognizable, frankly, anymore. We can argue about it but there's no argument. Friends come back from different places and say, 'I don't recognize it.' And that's not in a positive way. That's in a very negative way."

Trump on NATO: "The problem with NATO is that we'll be there for them 100% but I'm not sure that they'd be there for us, if we gave them the call". We did get the call on 9/11. 26 NATO members sent troops to defend the US. Hundreds died doing so. It was the only time Article 5 has been activated.

He is literally fighting windmills. www.bbc.com/news/live/cj...

Trump says 'Europe not heading in the right direction' as he addresses world leaders at Davos

It comes after Trump says he will add a 10% tariff to goods imported from eight European countries that oppose his plan to take over Greenland.

bbc.com

The European Parliament just voted to request an Art. 218(11) TFEU opinion on the EU-Mercosur Agreement; as is its constitutional prerogative. www.politico.eu/article/eu-m... [1/]

EU-Mercosur trade deal stalled as MEPs send it for judicial review

Opponents of the Latin American accord prevail, potentially delaying it for up to two years.

politico.eu

This speech was so great, PM Carney deserves the Nobel Prize in Literature! 🏆 Seriously though: This was a tour de force. Uncomfortable, clear-eyed, but not at all hopeless; with lots to think about for policymakers, international lawyers, IR theorists, integration theorists, and many more.

Toronto Star@thestar.com · 7mo ago

Mark Carney earned a rare standing ovation in Davos. Read the full text of his speech here

Nothing demonstrates the mental colonization of the European mind better than the ease with which Americans have been able to spread the myth over here that America, out of the goodness of its heart, has been "paying for Europe's protection".

Sven-Erik Volberg@volberg.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The US pays for Europe's defence? No it doesn't! Of a $968bn global defence budget, only $33bn is spent in Europe, mostly on US bases which are not NATO bases. The actual US funding of NATO is approx $600m a year, the same as Germany. The myth dies on contact with arithmetic.

Denmark and Greenland are not alone. Good to see my colleagues Troels Lund Poulsen and Vivian Motzfeldt. Arctic security is a shared transatlantic interest, and one we can discuss with our US allies. But tariff threats are not the way to go about this. Sovereignty is not for trade. (1/2)

2024: can Europe defend itself ALONGSIDE America? 2025: can Europe defend itself WITHOUT America? 2026: can Europe defend itself AGAINST America?

I suspect the vast majority of those Americans assume that one day they can simply say 'reset' to us, and all will be well. It won't be. America has never ever threatened a European democracy with invasion. Until now. We are in a new era.

Alexander Clarkson@aphclarkson.bsky.social · 7mo ago

But Americans who want to save the alliance with Europe must have no illusions about how bad a condition this transatlantic partnership is in.

Agree with @gideonrachman.bsky.social excellent column. European appeasement hasn't worked. It's time to try a different approach.

Good moment to repost my paper from last year, mapping the cards Europe could play in response to US coercion. Most of them could be played via the anti-coercion instrument. Digital services charges and (de facto) export controls are the keys. ecfr.eu/publication/...

Brussels hold’em: European cards against Trumpian coercion – European Council on Foreign Relations

Faced with an aggressive United States, Europe has more leverage than it realises. Across trade, technology, infrastructure, finance and people-to-people relati

ecfr.eu

An Élysée spokesperson said on Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron will ask the EU to activate its Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – dubbed the bloc’s trade “bazooka” – if new US tariffs materialise.

EU trade ‘bazooka’ back on the table, as Greenland tariff threat blows up US deal | Euractiv

French President Emmanuel Macron will ask the EU to activate its Anti-Coercion Instrument if new US tariffs materialise

euractiv.com

In sum, Europe has little to lose in hitting back hard. The hope here is Europe hits back hard and prompts Trump to deescalate, just as he has done on China. Thus by escalating Europe is also creating a pathway to deescalate this crisis.

Feels like something cracked today in the transatlantic alliance. Europeans have been swallowing their pride, bitting their tongues, and bending the knee. That strategy may have bought them time but it has now clearly failed. It also had a major cost - it has made the WH think Europe will cave. 1/

This is pretty much the only post anyone should need to understand that Farage is a traitor, a conman and a populist simpleton who must *never* be given power.