EU leaders will meet on 22 January to agree the bloc's response to US president Donald Trump's threat to annex Greenland and to impose an additional 10pc tariff on imports from France, Germany and five other European countries. The European Parliament is also preparing to freeze work on adopting laws needed to implement the EU-US trade deal agreed last summer.
EU leaders are expected to consider trade responses to Trump's actions, including suspending efforts to implement the trade agreement under which the EU accepted a US baseline tariff of 15pc. The deal also provided for 0pc tariffs on a range of US products exported to the EU.
The bloc's anti-coercion instrument (ACI) would also allow the EU to restrict US access to the EU market for goods, services, foreign direct investment, financial markets and public procurement.
Trump said on 19 January that now is the "time" to act on Greenland. He had earlier announced that Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden — along with the UK and Norway — would be subject to a 10pc US tariff from 1 February, rising to 25pc on 1 June. The countries have all taken part in a military mission in Denmark's Greenland territory. That list may expand, with Belgium joining the mission and Spain considering participation.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has also criticised the tariff threat, reiterating today that it is "completely wrong" although appearing to rule out retaliatory measures at this stage.
EU lawmakers have indicated that the EU-US trade deal cannot move forward under current circumstances. "The European Parliament's work on implementing the EU-US trade deal from last summer must be suspended," said Bernd Lange, chair of parliament's trade committee, urging use of the ACI.
Parliament's centre-right EPP group remains supportive of the agreement in principle, but its leader Manfred Weber said that "given Donald Trump's threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. The 0pc tariffs on US products must be put on hold".
Trump is scheduled to address the World Economic Forum in Davos on 21 January, where several EU leaders will also be present, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
