Calm before EU-US trade storm as deadline approaches, Newsletter
In spotlight
MEPs will be in their constituencies for the Parliament's last full business week before the summer this week, apart from a few who are heading to the US on missions.
Delegations from the committees for budgets and foreign affairs will both visit Washington DC, and the visits come at a sensitive moment. US President Donald Trump has told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen he intends to raise tariffs on European products to 30% starting 1 August – the end of next week – while the Commission claims to remain ready to work on an agreement before that date. "We of course remain fully and deeply engaged in the negotiations, and technical work continues to reach a mutually beneficial agreement by 1 August," said a Commission spokesperson.
The budget committee delegation will meet officials from the US Departments of Treasury and State and members of the Congress and Senate. They have a range of issues on the table relating to the finance, EU and US defence funding, Ukraine reconstruction plans and the impact of the USAID funding termination.
The Parliament Vice-President leading the delegation, Romanian socialist Victor Negrescu, said that the mission 'comes at a crucial moment for reinforcing the transatlantic partnership through a budgetary lens', and is looking forward to 'discussions with our American counterparts on shared challenges - be it strengthening our industrial base, developing a Transatlantic Erasmus, securing our supply chains, or ensuring a fair digital transition.'
Meanwhile the delegation from the Committee on Foreign Affairs will also be in Washington DC this week as part of its first official visit to the US since last year's Parliament elections and Donald Trump's return to the White House, where they will hold meetings in Congress and the US State Department on EU-US political relations.
Neither the US Congress or Senate or the European parliament has any direct heft in the ongoing trade negotiations however, and the it seems likely that the dispute will simply hover ominously in the background of any discussions.
Everything they are discussing depends on any outcome to the trade negotiations, however. How much the EU and US are prepared to cooperate on 'shared challenges' and EU-US political relations will depend wholly on whether the outcome is stable or destructive.
By the end of next week the two sides will either resolve on normalisation of trade relations, albeit with tariffs playing a fundamental role, or descend into an ugly high-tariff retaliatory stand off that seems destined to harm both sides, and render any dialogue between EU and US lawmakers redundant.
Policy newsmakers
Drive for child protection online
The European Commission offered online platforms further guidance last week on how to protect minors, addressing issues such as addictive design, cyber bullying and harmful content in a bid to ensure that children enjoy high levels of privacy, safety and security. The largest online platforms should not have any issues implementing looming age verification solutions, Denmark's digital minister told Euronews later in the week in response to heavy lobbying around online child protection measures by the tech industry. 'They are the biggest companies in the world, with a bigger economy than most of our countries could ever dream of. I think they will manage to find a solution,' said Caroline Stage Olsen.
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