Von der Leyen in the Spotlight
From: Jolanka Kocianova Vuong
Reading Time: 3 minutes 16 seconds
As a Commission President, Ursula Von Der Leyen is used to being at the center of attention. Whether during the first Trump administration, Climate Change, COVID, or the war in Ukraine, Von Der Leyen has always been the person to look up to for the EU to deliver solutions. Yet, this spotlight shines even brighter in the light of Trump's 20% Tariffs challenging the consequential implementation of the Green Deal. What are Von Der Leyen’s plans and how will it affect Europe? Read here to find out more.
The Great Trumpian Challenge
On Wednesday, the 2nd of April, Trump’s “Liberation Day” finally came. Trump declared that foreign trade and economic practices created a trade deficit between the US and its partners and thus declared a state of national emergency. Conveniently, Trump invoked special emergency powers to impose a long list of Tariffs on countries worldwide – except for of course Russia. Also affected is the “pathetic” EU, on which he wants to impose 20% Tariffs. Only recently, he issued 25% Tariffs on Steel and Aluminium imports, to which the Commission put forward a €26 billion countermeasure package. Now all eyes turn towards the EU – what will our response be this time?
The Man - or Woman- of the hour is Commission President Von der Leyen. On Thursday, at 5 am, she held a speech on European Retaliation. She stresses the consequences of Trump's actions on international trade, especially the consumer market. Much more than that, the speech is a testimony to European strength. “The Bloc” is preparing countermeasures, on top of the €26 billion package, ready to take action if negotiations fail. A severe economic blow to the US indeed. Her actions are watched closely, especially by the German Media. Closely linked to the German car industry, it represents German export interest in the US market. Thus, the Media is critical and calls the EU’s action a “declaration of war”. Nevertheless, the EU has not yet given up diplomacy, and Von der Leyen’s Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, met with the EU’s ambassadors on Friday, the 4th April, and is in close contact with his US colleague, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
MAGA oder MEGA?
Before moving onto Von Der Leyen’s Green Deal reform, let’s take a moment to appreciate how President Trump strengthened the EU. The media is focusing on the negative impacts of Trump’s America First Politics when it could be looking at how he has made Europe great again. In the Area of defence, the EU achieved the unthinkable – a movement towards the remilitarisation of the EU, a coalition of the willing to send troops to Ukraine, and a united front at the Defence Summit in March (except for Hungary). 5 years ago, this development was thought unthinkable by many experts. President Trump’s Tariffs and confusing economic policies have also led to a flight of investors from the US to Europe, particularly Germany. As news is going around aboutWall Street entering a recession,European stocks are thriving. European defence companies’ stocks are experiencing a surge: European Starlink alternative Eutelsat grew by 100%, and European banks are outpacing US peers so far this year.
The American military base “Pituffik Space Base”,
Picture source: https://apnews.com/article/greenland-american-military-pituffik-space-base-denmark-746d67b1bc8e6681328a809787412495
What contributed to these developments, particularly in the military sector, is the Commission’s 800 billion euro defence spending plan proposed by Von Der Leyen.
A more ‘realistic’ Green Deal
As much as Trump’s tariffs are the most prominent issue, they are not the only policy area the Commission has been active in recently. It seems as if Von Der Leyen feels empathetic towards the Car industry recently. She announced plans forless strict regulations on Car emissions. Previously, Car manufacturers who didn’t meet the emission requirements had to pay a fine. Yet, with the revised proposal, Von Der Leyen wants to give car manufacturers more time to adjust to environmental regulations. To exemplify, instead of a yearly emission limit, the Commission extended the period to 3 years. This revision ties into the disappointing electric vehicle sales. When formulating the Plan, a higher number of sales for electric vehicles was projected, and the capacities for car manufacturers to adhere to the standards were calculated accordingly. Hence, the Plan had to be adjusted to the current situation. However, this weakening of the Green Deal is not yet written in Stone. The European Parliament and EU Member States still have to approve the changes, which might be challenging, considering that Von der Leyen’s announcement was followed by significant backlash. Even though the Commission President insists that these measures do not signify a withdrawal from tackling climate change, politicians and climate activists see the step as a threat to all the EU’s climate goals and warn against re-igniting the support for fossil fuels. In sum, the actions by Von Der Leyen illustrated the struggle between Climate protection and Economic well-being.
To sum up, the Commission President has a lot on her plate. She has to think of a retaliation plan for Trump’s tariffs, oversee negotiations with the US, while handling pressure for changes regarding car emissions in Parliament and the European Council. This is reflected in her prominence in the headlines across European newspapers. While the cause for Von der Leyen’s media presence is unfortunate, it can have positive implications for Europe. A greater salience of EU-related issues in the media leads to a greater awareness of the population and contributes to the creation of a European public sphere. This is one of the changes that President Trump’s decisions caused, which may ironically strengthen European solidarity and cooperation.
