EU must adopt new approach toward US

Dusan Prorokovi, executive director of the Center for Strategic Alternatives in Belgrade

The protectionist measures taken by the Donald Trump administration are seen in Europe as the beginning of a trade war and the EU countermeasures will duly follow.

The EU is angry with Trump for trying to subvert the multilateral trading system, which will heighten the tensions between Washington and Brussels. The problem for the EU is not that relations with the US are worsening; this had to happen sooner or later.

If the leading EU countries — France and Germany — want to become an independent pole in the multipolar world that is being shaped, then they have to reduce the US’ influence in Europe. In this context, the EU needs to take two specific measures.

First, the EU has to formulate a clear and comprehensive foreign policy, even if it means entering into a conflict with the US on some issues. The interests of the EU and the US have not always matched. But the EU has supported the US’ foreign policy even when it was in conflict with its own interests — on Ukraine and Syria for instance. Therefore, the EU has to adopt a more courageous approach.

And second, the EU has to formulate its own security policy by accelerating the process of establishing the European Military Forces (Euroforce) and consigning NATO to history. As long as NATO exists, the US will be a key factor in European security. NATO is an excellent instrument for the US to manage European affairs.

If the EU wants to be an independent pole in contemporary world politics, it has to completely redefine its current position. The precondition for the EU to get out of the very unfavorable framework of cooperation with the US, where it is always seen as a younger partner or minority shareholder, is to improve relations with Russia and China.