Macron warns against ‘new colonial approach’ in swipe at US and China – Europe live | Europe
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Trump ‘crossing red lines’ and 80 years of atlanticism could be drawing to close if he doesn’t change tack, Belgian PM says
Belgium’s Bart De Wever is up next, as he gets asked about the relations with the US and Trump’s behaviour.
He doesn’t mince his words at all.
He says that “Europe is at a crossroads” and it has to decide what it’s policy will be.
He continues:
“Until now, we tried to appease the new president in the White House. We were very lenient, also with the tariffs. We were lenient hoping to get his support for the Ukraine war. … But now so many red lines are being crossed that you have the choice between your self-respect. Being a happy vassal is one thing. Being a miserable slave is something else.
If you back down now you’re going to lose your dignity. And that’s probably the most precious thing you can have in a democracy.”
He says he will meet with Trump on Wednesday, accompanied by the Belgian monarch Philippe.
“But it will have a different character than we had planned.
It will probably be the message that we have to send: you’re crossing red lines here.
We either stand together or we will stand divided, and if we are divided, there is the end of an era, of 80 years of atlanticism, really drawing to a close.
And you know, as Gramsci said, ‘if the old is dying and the new is not yet born, you live in a time of monsters,’ and it’s up to him to decide if he wants to be a monster – yes or no.”
Ooooooof.
Key events
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Macron talks about Europe’s trade response to US, China policies
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Macron paints choice between ‘new colonial approach’ and ‘law of strongest’ and ‘effective multilateralism’
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Macron warns about crumbling multilateralism as takes aim at US, China’s policies
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Marcon warns about instability and imbalances in today’s world before taking swipe at Trump’s war record
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France’s Macron addressing Davos – watch live
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The day so far – summary
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‘if anyone starts trade war against us … we must respond,’ Danish prime minister says
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EU cannot ‘stay herbivore’ in post-atlantic world, Belgium’s De Wever says
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‘They have to behave like ally,’ Belgium’s De Wever tells US, as “unfortunately not” granted it will remain ally under Trump
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‘Europe must tell Trump: this far and no further. Back down or we will go all the way,’ Belgian PM says
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Croatia’s Plenković hints at EU trip to Ukraine on fourth anniversary of Ukraine war
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Europe learned ‘hard way’ about its previous mistakes and illusions, Belgium’s de Wever says
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Trump ‘crossing red lines’ and 80 years of atlanticism could be drawing to close if he doesn’t change tack, Belgian PM says
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Lithuania’s president ‘sceptical’ about peace settlement on Ukraine as Russia continues with ‘imperialist’ ambitions
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Von der Leyen rolls out pitch for ‘EU Inc’ as she rebukes Trump over tariff threats – snap analysis
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US tariffs risk ‘plunging us into downward spiral,’ von der Leyen warns
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Proposed US tariffs on European partners ‘a mistake,’ von der Leyen says
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‘This must end’, EU’s von der Leyen says of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine
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EU’s von der Leyen highlights regulatory, capital, investment reforms in push to rival US, China
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‘New Europe already emerging,’ von der Leyen says as she hails new trade deals and lauds ‘fair trade over tariffs’
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EU’s von der Leyen warns ‘nostalgia’ will ‘not bring back old order’ as she calls for ‘new independent’ Europe
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EU’s von der Leyen speaks at Davos
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Greenland not ‘natural part’ of Denmark, Russia says
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US treasury secretary Bessent urges Europe not to retaliate against Trump’s Greenland tariffs
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UK defends Chagos deal from Trump’s criticism
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Morning opening: Trump takes aim at UK, France, Macron, Greenland in busy overnight Truth Social session
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Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos deal, Nigel Farage says
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What was contained within the UK-Chagos Islands agreement?
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Trump says UK’s decision to hand over sovereignty to Chagos Islands is act of ‘great stupidity’
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Macron’s text message shared by Trump on Truth Social is authentic, source says
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Trump says ‘no going back’ on Greenland
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Opening summary
And, by the way, that’s Macron’s Davos shades look I mentioned earlier.
Macron talks about Europe’s trade response to US, China policies
Macron goes into detail on his trade thinking as he responds to what the EU should do to respond to the US and Chinese more assertive policies.
He says Europe needs to be “more realistic” about how they respond this as there are sectors – he points to chemical and automotive – “that are being literally killed” by the lack of level playing field.
He also calls for the EU to “advance the principle of European preference” in the same way it works in the US.
But he says that doesn’t mean isolationism, but playing within the rules, as he says that for example Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe is welcome – but it needs to respect the same standards and rules.
He then turns to similar themes as in von der Leyen’s speech, talking about the need to cut red tape and simplify the regulations (11:20).
He says the 450 million EU inhabitants need to be open as the domestic market for all EU companies, reducing barriers and promoting innovation and competitiveness.
Just like von der Leyen, he also talks about the capital market union.
I’m sure my colleagues over on the business blog will have plenty to say on this.
Macron paints choice between ‘new colonial approach’ and ‘law of strongest’ and ‘effective multilateralism’
Macron says the choice is to “passively accept the law of the strongest” that would lead to “vassalisation and block” politics and “new colonial approach,” which I’m sure you get by now that he rejects, or to defend “effective multilateralism” that serves our interest.
He says that national sovereignty and independence are both a key part of that and he says that the recent French deployment of military to Greenland was part of a move to defend that – not “threatening anyone, but supporting an ally and another European country.”
He says that through its presidency in G7, France will also want to revive G7 as the forum for “frank dialogue” to prevent trade wars, protectionist escalation and other attempts to disrupt global order.
“So our objective through the G7 is to demonstrate that the world’s major powers are still capable of reaching a shared diagnosis of the global economy,” he says.
Macron warns about crumbling multilateralism as takes aim at US, China’s policies
France’s Macron warns that “multilateralism is weakened by powers that obstruct it or turned away from it,” and where “rules are undermined”.
He says it is “concerning” as “we are killing the structures where we can fix the situation” through talks and diplomacy.
He says that collective governance gives way to “relentless” competition, and says the US “demands maximum concessions and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe,” and criticises “accumulation of new territories.”
He also talks about China’s “massive excess capacities” and “distortive practices” that seek to “overwhelm” some sectors.
“The answer in order to fix this issue is more cooperation and building new approaches, and it’s clearly building more economic sovereignty and strategic economy, especially for the Europeans, which is, for me, the core answer,” he says.
Marcon warns about instability and imbalances in today’s world before taking swipe at Trump’s war record
Ouch.
Macron takes swipe at Trump in more or less the first paragraph of his speech.
As he warns about the instability and imbalances of today’s world, he says there were “more than 60 wars in 2024, an absolute record,” before adding “even if I understand that a few of them were fixed” to a muffled chuckle from the audience.
This will obviously be seen in context of Trump’s repeated bragging about how many wars he ended.
France’s Macron addressing Davos – watch live
France’s Macron is speaking now.
You can watch along below, but I will bring you all the latest lines here.
And he is still sporting his shades as he addresses the room.
The day so far – summary
Jakub Krupa
It’s a very hectic day in Europe as the continent scrambles to respond to the latest round of attacks, criticism and threats from the US president, Donald Trump, on his social media channels overnight.
Here is the latest:
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European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has warned business leaders to let go of “nostalgia” about the past pre-Trump world, telling them that it “will not bring back the old order,” and urging them to focus on building a more independent Europe instead (11:16, 11:56).
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She repeatedly criticised Trump for his tariff threats against European allies (11:20), saying that would be “a mistake” (11:31) and could send the relations into “a downward spiral” benefiting geopolitical rivals (11:36) as she pledged her solidarity and support with Denmark and Greenland.]
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Belgium’s outspoken prime minister Bart de Wever warned that “so many red lines are being crossed” with Trump that Europeans had to defend their self-respect by opposing his moves (13:14, 13:28), as he warned the US president could bury the postwar atlanticist world order.
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De Wever said it could not be taken for granted that the US would continue to be an ally, as they “have to behave like an ally,” saying Trump’s actions only embolden the west’s rivals, including Putin’s Russia and Xi’s China (13:38).
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In a particularly strong warning, he said that Europe needs to “wake up and rearm” for the new emerging world order, as it “cannot stay a herbivore” in a post-atlantic world (13:40).
Separately,
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Von der Leyen also criticised Russia for continuing strikes on Ukraine (11:29), amid worsening situation on the ground (12:50) and scepticism about whether a peace deal can be agreed (13:08).
And it’s only 2pm local time in Davos, 1pm in London.
France’s Emmanuel Macron is speaking next. Stay tuned.
‘if anyone starts trade war against us … we must respond,’ Danish prime minister says
Meanwhile, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has been speaking in the Danish parliament.
She told lawmakers that Europe would have no choice but to respond if a trade war started, following Trump’s tariffs threat on countries opposing his plans to take over Greenland, AFP reported.
“As Europe, if anyone starts a trade war against us – which I really cannot recommend – we must of course respond. We are compelled to do so,” she said.
She added that “we have never sought any conflicts.”
Note: no Danish officials are involved in Davos this year.
Officials explanations vary, but it’s impossible not to link it with what’s going on with Trump and Greenland.
Jakub Krupa
Ooof.
Lots to digest there. I will post a summary for you shortly.
But France’s Emmanuel Macron is up next very soon, with his keynote address in the main hall.
As during his public appearances last week, he is sporting dark glasses to hide a ruptured blood vessel in his eye, a condition which the Élysée Palace said should not be a source of any worry.
Or he just really liked the pretty cool look.
Back to Russia and Belarus, Belgium’s De Wever says negotiating with Putin is “not a very good idea,” because Europe doesn’t always have the hard power to back up its words and it needs to quickly change that.
He says the EU’s enlargement is important, as “it’s in Europe that … people want to join the European Union,” whereas “nobody wants to join China, … no neighbour of the US says we want to join the US.”
But he says that “at the moment, when we need deep integration to get the big [geopolitical] stick, enlargement debate is contradictory to that,” unless the EU chooses to integrate at two levels, at different speeds.
Ukraine’s Plenković says Ukraine has lots to give to Europe, particularly when it comes to security and defence. “Basically, Ukrainian military today is the only one that has been in such a test of war and defence that nobody else has done that on such a large scale,” he says.
Lithuania’s Nausėda says he is in favour of “setting a very clear date” for Ukraine to join the EU, not as a legally binding declaration, but a political ambition, and he will keep pushing for it.
Croatia’s Plenković is now talking about the prospects of the EU enlargement, as he talks about the importance of the western Balkan countries, the south-east Europe region, and – obviously – Ukraine.
He says until know, enlargement was about meeting technical criteria, but now it may be more about “geopolitical approach” – but still the details and the impact of any such enlargement needs to be properly scrutinised.
EU cannot ‘stay herbivore’ in post-atlantic world, Belgium’s De Wever says
In further explosive comments, Belgium’s De Wever says:
“If the atlanticism really dies, I hope not, but if it dies, globalisation will die with it. That’s very clear. And we cannot stay a herbivore in that world.”
He says Europe needs to “wake up and rearm” to respond to the “structural shift” in the US, and Europe “has become totally dependent on technology that we do not own and control.”
He says:
“We were a little bit naive, and it’s time to wake up.
We need our own technological platforms to build the prosperity of tomorrow.
If not, Trump can do with us … he can make us slaves, because we actually are slaves then, and we will have to take for granted whatever he does.
We’ve been accustomed to very nice presidents like Obama, and we haven’t noticed that the shift in America is not bound to one presidency.
It’s a structural shift. The face of America has turned to the Pacific. Their backside is turned to the Atlantic, and that will not change after Trump.”
