MEPs on special mission to Washington, Newsletter
A delegation of MEPs from the Parliament's trade committee will travel to Washington between 27 and 30 May. But if Trump is running shy of one-on-one talks with Ursula von der Leyen, what difference if any will a bunch of EU lawmakers make, especially from an obscure assembly he almost certainly doesn't recognise?
The US president threatened on Friday to impose 'a straight 50% tariff on the EU', an indicator for how well negotiations between the US and the EU are currently going. By Sunday Trump and von der Leyen had held a call, described as 'good' by the Commission President in a post on X, and the US president has now delayed imposition of the 50% tariff until 9 July pending the ongoing negotiations EU.
But all discussions so far have place behind closed doors, or through exchanges of letters, between a small number of President Trump's advisors and a team of high-level EU negotiators. The voice of this group of MEPs led by the chair of the trade committee Bernd Lange (Germany/S&D) might fall on deaf ears, if any US lawmakers or trade representatives deign to listen to them.
'The main objective of this visit is to hear directly from the US administration and stakeholders about their recriminations and suggestions on how to fix transatlantic and world trade,' Lange said in a statement last week.
They might need some time to listen, since the recriminations towards the EU have been coming thick and fast from day one of Trump's second presidency.
And suggestions on how to fix transatlantic trade seems a wishful thinking when the US and the EU are so far away from clinching any deal.
Industry sceptical on new EU single market strategy
Business representatives gave a jaundiced welcome to a new single market strategy designed to strengthen internal trade presented last week by EU Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné, following years of promises on the issue by the European Commission.
'Every Commission term seems to feature a flagship communication on the single market, going back to the Monti Report in 2010, but unfortunately these have not always led to tangible improvements for businesses,' Ben Butters, the CEO of Eurochambres, which represents businesses across Europe, told Euronews.
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