BRUSSELS — The European Union has signaled it won’t give in to pressure from Washington to tear up its green rules in order to firm up a deal on tariffs, the bloc’s top trade official has told member countries.
Speaking during a closed-door meeting of ambassadors on Wednesday, Sabine Weyand, who heads the European Commission’s Directorate for Trade, said the executive will not use a document drafted by the U.S. as the basis for its negotiations, according to five diplomats and officials granted anonymity to discuss the restricted meeting with POLITICO.
The paper, developed by President Donald Trump’s administration, would commit Brussels to dropping rules requiring American firms to produce plans to fight climate change and end environmental and human rights violations in their supply chains. The Financial Times reported Wednesday that in the document, the White House branded the legislation “serious and unwarranted regulatory over-reach” that “imposes significant economic and regulatory burdens on U.S. companies.”
The diplomats and officials told POLITICO that the Commission does not intend to act on the criticism in the document, which was drawn up after Trump agreed a handshake trade deal with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. Instead, the EU executive intends to act in line with the terms of a subsequent joint statement that does not foresee those concessions.
“We have always said — we are not negotiating on these issues,” said one European Commission official, while an envoy from one EU country insisted the broadside against the green rules was a negotiating tactic: “They have their red lines and we have ours.”
The session at which Weyand spoke was held in a restricted format, reserved for the most sensitive discussions, and ambassadors were not allowed phones in the room. National capitals have not been given access to the negotiating paper sent by Washington, given the high stakes surrounding a trade agreement worth potentially trillions of dollars.
No rollback
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, the Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, Olof Gill, refused to confirm receipt of the position paper from the U.S. He insisted the bloc is “focused on the faithful implementation of the EU-U.S. joint statement, which we believe is essential to preserving our unmatched transatlantic trade … We are not rolling back on any of our laws.”
The EU did, in the framework agreement published in August, commit to addressing U.S. concerns regarding its supply chain transparency law as it launches a major new deregulation drive designed to simplify rules and boost economic competitiveness. According to another official, that is being seen internally as an overture to Washington. However, American officials, backed by big business, are eyeing the proposals as a chance to push for legislation to be dropped that they see as unfavorable, and have launched a new impetus.
Trump’s White House has consistently blasted the EU’s green regulations while slashing rules designed to protect the environment and limit carbon emissions and other polluting gases for firms at home. The Republican’s team has also been pressuring the bloc to drop its digital regulations that they claim unfairly punish American tech firms.
EU leaders should not lose their nerve amid U.S. attacks on the EU’s digital rulebooks, Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s important to stay calm, even if there are different kinds of attacks against this legislation,” she told POLITICO. “We are fully enforcing the rules all the time, and everybody can be ensured on that.”
According to a draft agenda obtained by POLITICO, European leaders are set to discuss the need to double down on policies in the face of pressure from across the Atlantic at a summit in Brussels later this month. The meeting of the European Council will consider how to “reassert Europe’s interests, values and regulatory autonomy.”
Gabriel Gavin reported from Brussels. Marianne Gros reported from Paris. Koen Verhelst, Camille Gijs and Pieter Haeck contributed reporting.
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