European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has denied that Europe accepted a lopsided trade deal with the United States out of fear that Washington might stop supporting Ukraine militarily.
“There is no linkage between the two,” von der Leyen said with a smile at a press conference in Finland on Friday. Asked if the security situation had influenced the deal, she replied that business stability was what mattered.
This puts her at odds with her own trade chief, Maroš Šefčovič, who after negotiating the deal in July, said that it was also “about Ukraine.”
Her comments can also be interpreted as a rebuke of senior EU trade official Sabine Weyand, who this week described security concerns as the “backdrop” to the trade negotiations.
The deal – in which the EU agreed to open up its markets while accepting higher tariffs on some of its own exports – has drawn stiff criticism across Europe. Von der Leyen has defended her deal with Donald Trump, describing it as good, if not perfect. In Finland, she stressed that securing a single 15% tariff for most EU exports to the US, including cars and pharmaceuticals, puts Europe in a stronger position than America’s other trading partners.
(de)
