The experienced ex-diplomat’s words about Trump’s return and Europe stopped me

I recently met in Brussels a widely respected former diplomat who has had a long-term influence in the United States and Europe, and who has also worked with the Trump administration.

“I’ve never been this worried in my career,” he said, not pointing to Donald Trump but to the decision-makers in Brussels, who, according to the ex-diplomat, “have no idea where the United States is going”.

Even though I know that words are loved more than deeds in Brussels, the analysis of European decision-makers by an experienced international politician still stopped me.

According to the ex-diplomat, the EU is now acting in the wrong direction and decisions are being made far too slowly.

“The EU doesn’t understand what clock frequency the US operates on,” he said.

Distress call

On Thursday, they also gave an equally gloomy picture of the state of the EU – competitiveness and innovation climate Nokian and Ericsson CEOs Pekka Lundmark and Börje Ekholmaccording to which the EU focuses too much on updating Trump’s statements, and does not realize that during his presidency, the United States will significantly reduce bureaucracy and regulation and do everything to increase the competitiveness of the United States.

It is also worth noting that the big US tech giants may be close to the Trump administration.

Back in 2010, the sizes, productivity and development contributions of the economies of Europe and the United States were more or less the same, but now Europe is about 20–30 percent behind the United States in all areas.

Most of the productivity gap between the EU and the USA arises specifically in the technology sector.

If the EU doesn’t wake up and take swift action, it means the impoverishment of Europe, the fading of the economy and the disappearance of jobs. In turn, they can have dire political consequences in Europe.

The most depressing thing about the situation is that European politicians themselves have created a regulatory jungle that strangles companies. They have even praised the EU as a regulatory superpower that others must follow.

This may be the case in some cases, but it is already apparent that many decision-makers have turned their backs: the EU’s regulatory tsunami is being updated loudly and changes are being demanded, while the United States and China are running away from the right and the left.

The CEO of Ericsson directly said that one of the reasons why it is not worth investing in Europe is that a significant part of the money from investors is spent on the expenses of the administrative army clearing the regulatory jungle.

The Commission has already promised that the direction will change; regulation is simplified and companies’ reporting obligations are reduced.

The guiding star of the new Commission is improving the EU’s competitiveness.

The competitiveness strategy made for this was supposed to be published last week, but its publication is delayed because the president of the commission has concentrated power on himself Ursula Von der Leyen was hospitalized for pneumonia at Christmas time.

It does not bode well for the transparency of the EU’s administrative culture that Von der Leyen’s hospitalization was first concealed.

Answer to tariffs

As is known, the tariff-loving Trump has also threatened the EU with trade tariffs if the Union does not increase the import of US products, primarily oil and gas.

The Commission and the EU administration are assured that the tariff threat caused by Trump’s return has been well prepared and possible countermeasures have been thought about for months.

However, you don’t want to show your cards in advance, because you have to try to negotiate with Trump first.

In a positive scenario, the tariffs that inoculate the European economy could be countered with, for example, a deal promising to buy LNG from the United States, injecting more money into European defense and buying more weapons from the United States.

We will soon see which side of the Atlantic has the better bargaining chip.