The European Parliament believes that the trade agreement between the EU and the United States no longer has any prospects and plans to halt the process of its ratification. This position emerged after statements by US President Donald Trump regarding tariffs against opponents of the purchase of Greenland. This was reported by The WP Times, citing Bloomberg.
Manfred Weber, President of the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament, said on Saturday that approval of the trade agreement with the United States is currently impossible.
“The EPP supports the idea of a trade agreement between the EU and the United States, but in light of Donald Trump’s threats related to Greenland, its approval at this stage is impossible. Agreements to reduce tariffs on American goods must be put on pause,” Weber was quoted as saying by the agency. According to Bloomberg, the trade agreement that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached with Trump in the summer of 2025 has already been partially implemented, but still requires final approval by the European Parliament.
The document envisaged the introduction of a 15% US tariff on most goods from the EU in exchange for Brussels committing to abolish duties on American industrial products and certain types of agricultural goods. Von der Leyen agreed to these terms in an attempt to avoid a full-scale trade war between the parties.
At the same time, an influential group of Members of the European Parliament criticised the agreement from the outset, calling it one-sided and beneficial primarily to Washington. Dissatisfaction only intensified after the United States, despite the agreements reached in July, imposed 50% tariffs on steel, aluminium and hundreds of other goods from the EU. Bernd Lange, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, said that work on implementing the agreement should be suspended until the United States withdraws its threats.
In addition, Lange called on the European Union to activate the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – the EU’s most powerful mechanism for responding to economic pressure, which has never been used before. This instrument allows for the introduction of mirror tariffs, additional taxes on technology companies, or restrictions on access to public procurement.
Members of the European Parliament’s trade committee have already held initial consultations and plan to meet again in a week. Meanwhile, Danish MEP Per Clausen has gathered 30 signatures for a letter to the parliamentary leadership demanding that the agreement with the United States be “frozen”.
Earlier, Donald Trump announced that from 1 February Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would pay 10% tariffs on all goods supplied to the United States. From 1 June, these tariffs are planned to increase to 25%. According to the head of the White House, the restrictions will remain in place until an agreement is reached on the “full and final purchase of Greenland”. It was previously reported that EU ambassadors will gather for an emergency meeting on Sunday in connection with new tariff threats from the United States, while EU leaders have already issued corresponding statements.
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