Trump presidency at center of European Parliament debate. Borrell: “We must be ready.”

Brussels – After the election of Trump in the United States, in the European Union “we must be ready”. This was the warning of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs,Josep Borrell during the plenary of the European Parliament in Brussels.

The cryptic message comes during the debate regarding EU-US relations. Trump’s victory, according to Borrell, is not “accidental, but explains a profound social change in U.S. society, which is also mirrored on the other side of the Atlantic. The consequences of this election will be felt in the coming years, per the High Representative.

any action that Trump decides to take will impact the EU, and “the key words are security, trade, technology,” Borrell adds. Whether it is tariffs on European or Chinese products, U.S. decisions will directly or indirectly affect European competitiveness and the geopolitical balance in which the EU operates.

Ukraine, the Middle East and the China-Taiwan relationship are the ‘hot potatoes’ of the future. For the former, Borrell during his visit to Kiev had chiaramente detto: “Ukraine is struggling to gain independence and to seek a space in the geopolitical landscape. Andthe place for her has been decided: it is the European Union.” The promise of joining the EU requires a strategy that is able to offset any U.S. departure, including rethinking how to use frozen Russian funds.

Borrell calls for focusing on “our security,” with actual actions (as opposed to the slogans consequent to Trump 1.0), relative to, for example, increasing military spending. “The European Union is not only an economic union, but also a political union,” in which the development of security and defense policy falls, the High Representative reminds, as with the Bussola strategica.

Of no small importance to the High Representative is that the Union is not so united on reactions to Trump. And the debate among MEPs gives him full credit.

“The U.S. election result told us nothing new,” begins MEP Andrzej Halicki of the EPP, confirming citizens’ demands on security, mirrored in the EU as well. The Pole goes on to recall the importance of greater European autonomy in the area of defense, which, as also mentioned by Borrell, requires greater investment. Halicki winks at his government’s (nationalist) “Scudo orientale” project, which he says should be supported and taken into account to strengthen the borders.

The moderation of the EPP is matched by the enthusiasm of the Patriots for Europe. “The European Union must learn lessons and must take care of the nations that make it up, comments Jordan Bardella of PfE, comparing Trumpian nationalism to democratic Europe. It also must focus on not falling behind economically, more than it already is, by simplifying and helping its industries. He concludes with a warning, “Let’s wake up or risk disappearing.”

Not of a different opinion, with less contentment, is the chairwoman of the Renew Group, Valerie Hayer. It will be important for the EU to defend its interests, move out of wait-and-see and protect itself, especially with Ukraine increasingly in the balance. “The stakes are our security,” Hayer adds, on which there is a lack of investment and the market is too fragmented. Not only that, the EU needs to think about its own competitiveness and innovation, as with regard to artificial intelligence on which it is still trudging.

He shows confidence Nicola Procaccini of Ecr: “The outcome of the US elections will not change the relationship between the EU and the US.” He is confident that relations between the two sides of the Atlantic will remain steely, even though these elections “have burst the Brussels bubble.” Procaccini is referring to the European left (about whose frustration he gloats a bit), which he says has not understood the voters and what they really want. He also returns with Ecr the talk about defense and the need to strengthen in NATO as well, but, in his case, with a smile on his face.

Decidedly unsmiling, in contrast, were the words of MEP Yannis Maniatis of S&d. “The EU must becomestrategically autonomous” from the US, since the first term gave a clear impression of how Trump relates to international relations. No multilateralism, little international law, and the green transition that could go up in smoke, according to Maniatis. From the EU must now come the push to be independent and autonomous indeed, as the stakes are high.

“The US […] will be ruled by a professed undemocrat,” says Martin Schirdewan of The Left. Critical of the Musk-Trump duo (with good reason), about whom he speaks of an oligarchy, especially with the risks from fake news being spread. He also beats him on the point of defense and the risks to the industry, which must be “ready for the future”.

To a stronger European Union appeals Terry Reintke of the Greens/Ale. He does not congratulate those who “will do damage in the world and to the EU,” which the far right does not seem to realize. Reintke calls for investment in “European independence from autocrats,” whether Trump or Putin, with much focus on global European goals, such as those on climate change.

He sums up the European puzzle Borrell well in his words, “This situation is not the end of the world but it is definitely the beginning of a different world.” The question, of which the answer may scald, is whether the European Union will really be able to be a part of it.