EU-Donald Trump tariffs: von der Leyen expected to take a decisive step in the European Parliament

Anxiety remains high in Strasbourg and Brussels more than a month after the handshake between Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen. Especially since the American billionaire is increasing his threats against European digital legislation, including the giant fine imposed by the European Commission on Google on Friday, which he denounced. On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen will "probably adopt a more offensive tone" to "try to sweeten the pill, to sell her agreement" to MEPs, grumbles Marina Mesure, a member of the Radical Left group.

The European Parliament took a very negative view of this "deal" with Donald Trump, sealed at the end of July: 15% US tariffs with exceptions for EU products such as aeronautics, accompanied by promises from Europe to buy massive amounts of American energy and reduce taxes on a range of "made in the USA" products. "Everyone agrees that it's a bad deal" that "reflects Europe's weakness," said the head of the centrist group, Valérie Hayer.

But Ursula von der Leyen had a "mandate" from member states like Germany and Italy, and industrialists wanted predictability for the coming months, she acknowledges. More than half of Europeans (52%) felt "humiliated" by this agreement, according to a poll published in the media outlet Le Grand Continent and conducted by the Cluster17 institute in five countries. MEPs will have to vote in the coming weeks on one aspect of the agreement, the reduction of European taxes. Centrists are maintaining the suspense, and social democrats are threatening to vote against it.

The argument "that a bad deal is better than nothing at all is totally unacceptable," thundered the leader of the Social Democratic group, Iratxe Garcia Pérez, on Tuesday. The right, from which Ursula von der Leyen comes, for its part, assumes a vote in favor of this agreement, even reluctantly. Customs duties "do not please us," but we need stability and to adapt to the "reality" desired by the American president, defended the leader of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber. The same position is held by Italian MEPs from Giorgia Meloni's party, who sit in one of the three far-right groups in Parliament.

On diplomatic matters, Ursula von der Leyen will also be eagerly awaited on the war in Gaza, following Israeli raids in Qatar targeting leaders of Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist movement. For months, the European Union has seemed diplomatically paralyzed due to its numerous divisions. The dissonances are evident even within the Commission, where Spanish socialist Teresa Ribera has described the situation in Gaza as a "genocide," deploring the inaction of the 27 member states. "Debating words divides Europe. It doesn't help us, it doesn't give us more credibility," Manfred Weber retorted.