Faced with a possible second Trump presidency, French PM says Europe needs security independence

As the world braces for an election that could return Donald Trump to the White House, the prime minister of France says he doesn't want his country's security, or the security of the Euro‐ pean Union, to depend on voters in the United States.

Trump, who has long been a critic of the the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has sown doubts during his presidential cam‐ paign about his commitment to the alliance's principle of collective defence - the prin‐ ciple that defines an attack on one NATO ally as an at‐ tack on all of them.

"We need to depend mostly on ourselves," French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said in an exclusive Englishlanguage interview with CBC's Power & Politics. "We need a second life guard ... we have NATO, but we also need to increase even more our defence policy in the EU."

"I don't want our security, our choices, our ability to support Ukraine to depend on elections over the At‐ lantic," Attal told host David Cochrane.

During his first term as U.S. president, Trump repeat‐ edly accused NATO allies of not spending enough on de‐ fence and of relying too much on the American mili‐ tary for their security.

WATCH: French PM says France's security shouldn't depend on U.S. elections

In February, Trump set off alarm bells across the al‐ liance when he claimed at a campaign rally that he told a leader of a NATO country he would encourage Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to any NATO members he thinks aren't spending enough on defence.

When pressed on whether he fears that Trump could abandon NATO if Russia es‐ calates hostilities in Europe, Attal insisted he didn't want to be perceived as interfering with the U.S. election.

"I don't want to meddle in this election but I say that we need to also handle our‐ selves in the EU," said Attal, adding security indepen‐ dence has been a priority for French President Emmanuel Macron since he first as‐ sumed office in 2017.

"We need European sov‐ ereignty and we need a Euro‐ pean defence budget and we need a European defence policy."

Attal was appointed prime minister in January by Macron. At 35 years old, he is France's youngest ever head of government and he is viewed as a potential succes‐ sor to Macron in France's 2027 presidential election.

Attal: France a reliable partner for military equip‐ ment

France has significantly in‐ creased its military spending in recent years and is slated to meet NATO's commitment of spending at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence this year.

Canada, meanwhile, spent only 1.33 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2023 and the recent spending package an‐ nounced by the Liberal gov‐ ernment projects military spending will rise to just 1.76 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.

Attal said he didn't want to comment on whether he thinks Canada is spending enough on defence.

"I will say the most impor‐ tant thing first is being present in multilateral as‐ semblies, because as adults, we have first to do diplomacy and try to talk to each other," said Attal. "The situation we're seeing in Ukraine today shows that we need to prepare ourselves for any sit‐ uation. That's why we de‐ cided in France to increase a lot our defence budget."

The French prime minister cited the planned increase in military spending unveiled in Canada's defence policy up‐ date earlier this week.

"What I want to say is that France, I think, is a reliable partner for Canada to in‐ crease its defence mechanis‐ ms, as well as for strategic and industrial support," said Attal.

The Canadian government says it is exploring options to renew and expand its subma‐ rine fleet. France manufac‐ tures both conventional and nuclear-powered sub‐ marines.

"We have a very strong defence industry in France ... we have the Naval Group and we have other industrial gi‐ ants regarding the defence industry, and I know there are talks between these com‐ panies and many countries," Attal said when asked if there are ongoing talks about Canada acquiring Frenchmade submarines.

"I think we can be a very reliable partner for Canada on these issues."

France and CETA

Last month, the French Senate voted overwhelmingly against ratifying the CanadaEuropean Union Comprehen‐ sive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). The deal, signed by Canada and the EU in 2016, came into force pro‐ visionally in 2017 and awaits ratification by every EU mem‐ ber state.

Europe's free-trade deals have come in for fierce criti‐ cism in recent years and French farmers have been spearheading the fight against CETA, claiming it favours Canadian producers.

Macron and Attal are ar‐ dent supporters of CETA.

"It's a good deal for both Canada and for France," said Attal, noting the increase in Canada-EU trade flow under the agreement. "The Senate, where we don't have the ma‐ jority ... decided to block it, I think, for political reasons because there are the Euro‐ pean elections coming."

Attal said he and his gov‐ ernment are confident they can convince French lawmak‐ ers and French farmers of CETA's value.