“The United States will defend its interests, and Europe will defend its own interests – that is part of international relations,” António Costa, the president of the European Council, told Euronews in an exclusive wide-ranging interview.
The European Union should engage with the new administration of Donald Trump in a “normal, calm manner, without anxiety,” António Costa, the president of the European Council, told Euronews in a sitdown interview.
“Naturally, just as the United States wants to defend its interests, it is up to the European Union to defend the interests of its companies, its citizens, our union,” he said.
“We remain committed, as always, to maintaining a good relationship with the United States, so if and when the US believes there is an issue to address, we are here to discuss it and negotiate.”
Costa cautioned that “even among friends”, frictions and clashes are bound to happen, as was the case with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the legislation introduced by Joe Biden to ramp up green tech production that discriminated against EU companies.
But the controversy around IRA might soon be dwarfed by the projects that Trump intends to carry out under his “America First” agenda. The Republican has threatened to take control of Greenland, the semi-autonomous island that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, using economic coercion or military force if necessary.
“The territorial integrity of Denmark, the sovereignty of Denmark, the stability of its borders, as you can imagine, is obviously an essential issue for us,” Costa said.
Trump has also threatened to slap across-the-board tariffs on foreign goods, which could send the bloc further down the spiral of economic stagnation. During a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump accused the EU of being “very, very bad” to the US.
The European Commission has warned tariffs would be met with counter-tariffs.
Costa, whose job is to moderate talks among the 27 leaders and ensure a common line of action, avoided speaking in stark retaliatory terms and instead struck a conciliatory note to urge constant dialogue with the White House.
“We’re not going to be the ones to pose a problem that has not yet been raised. If and when the problem arises, we will naturally address it, try to solve it or we’ll react, that’s part of it,” Costa said during the interview.
“The United States will defend its interests, and Europe will defend its own interests – that is part of international relations. I think there is no need to anticipate or dramatise problems. We should treat them as they are: problems that must be solved.”
Costa also discussed defence spending, support for Ukraine, the future of enlargement and relations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Watch the full interview on the Europe Conversation.
