EU hits back with countermeasures against ‘unjustified’ Trump tariffs

The European Commission has announced this morning countermeasures on US imports into the EU, in response to the imposition of new "unjustified" and "harmful" US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium imports. In total, EU countermeasures could apply to US exports worth up to €26 billion—mirroring the economic scale of the US tariffs.

The EU’s response will follow a two-step approach:

BERLIN

Volkswagen reports record curry sausages sales as car sales plummet. The leading German carmaker's curry sausages sales hit a record high in 2024 while its car sales went down 2.3%, with a nearly 15% drop in operating profit. Read more.

STOCKHOLM

Three out of ten Swedes have opted out of buying American goods, and four out of ten are considering doing so, in protest at US foreign policy, according to a survey by the opinion research organisation Verian for SVT. According to the survey, many Swedes hesitate to buy American products due to Donald Trump's on Ukraine, European security and tariffs over the past month. A total of 29% of Swedes say they have refrained from buying goods in the past month as a political protest – 10% completely refraining, and 19% boycotting only certain goods. Nearly 40% say they are considering boycotting American products in the future – meaning that in total, the image of the US seems to have taken a hit with a significant majority of the Swedish public.

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)
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NUUK
Pragmatic liberals win as independence party gain ground in Greenlandic elections. Amid Trump’s renewed interest in the island and a push for independence gaining momentum, the liberal Demokraatit party came out on top in Tuesday’s election with 30% of the vote. Demokraatit have advocated better conditions for the country’s businesses and a cautious approach to independence from Denmark. “We shouldn’t build the house from the chimney down,” 33-year-old party leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Greenland’s public broadcaster KNR as the results came in on Tuesday night. “When you see the way Trump speaks, we need to have a tougher in tone,” he added. His party is affiliated with Liberal Alliance (EPP) in Denmark. The island’s most ardent independence party, Naleraq, came in second, doubling its mandate with 24% of the vote. The party of incumbent Premier Múte B. Egede came third with 21%. The Inuit nation, an autonomous country, under Denmark saw its highest turnout in decades at 70%.
(Magnus Lund Nielsen | Euractiv.com)
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HELSINKI

Finland’s right regulates nicotine pouches over planned ban. Finland’s right-wing government has decided to regulate nicotine pouches and not follow a previous plan to ban them. Read more.

LISBON

Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's centre-right government lost a crucial vote of confidence amid a conflict of interest scandal, reigniting a cycle of dysfunction in the country's politics that stretches back years. Read more.
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MADRID

Sánchez pledges to Sumar that defence spending will not come at the cost of social cuts. The goal of increasing Spain's defence spending to 2% of national GDP by 2029 will not come at the cost of cutting investments in social policies, said Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez. Sánchez met on Tuesday with labour minister and former leader of the left-wing platform Sumar, his current coalition partner, to ease tensions between the two parties. Following Sánchez's announcement last Thursday at the post-European Council press conference in Brussels of his intention to bring forward the initial military spending increase target before 2029 (the initial target date), the country’s radical left - Sumar and its former ally Podemos - expressed their outright refusal to support the measure in Parliament. However, according to sources present at the meeting on Tuesday, Sánchez assured Díaz that there would be no social cuts to reach the 2% defence investment target. Meanwhile, the government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, tolda press conference in Madrid that the executive “In no way will social spending be reduced, and it will continue to be a key policy for this government”, RTVE reported. Following the meeting, Sumar issued a communiqué in which it advocates an “autonomous European security model that protects social rights and promotes peace.”

PRAGUE

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s push for cross-party agreement on boosting defence spending has unravelled, as both major opposition parties refused to discuss the matter. Fiala scheduled a joint meeting on national security and military readiness with all parliamentary parties for Thursday. He announced the meeting a few days after the Czech government's decision to raise its defence spending gradually to 3% of GDP by 2030, from the current 2%. However, the meeting was refused both by the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy party and the right-wing populist ANO party. ANO leader Andrej Babiš dismissed the meeting as “not a real expert discussion but part of the government's election campaign.” According to Freedom and Direct Democracy chair Tomio Okamura, the positions of the governing coalition and the party differ fundamentally and he sees no real possibility of their convergence at the moment. Fiala, who leads a centre-right coalition government, slammed the decision of the opposition parties as “irresponsible”.

(Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz)

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WARSAW

Military training to be universal in Poland but not mandatory, says Tusk. In 2027, Poland will have the capacity to provide military training for 100 thousand volunteers per year, as announced by PM Donald Tusk (PO, EPP), who also pledged to introduce measures aimed at tripling the pace of defence investments. While dispelling earlier reports that the training would be mandatory for all adult males, Tusk said that government officials would also be able to participate, both men and women. “I have just informed the ministers that members of the government and their officials will also undergo the training. Voluntary training,” he wrote on X, adding that his message met with “full understanding” in the government. Speaking to the media at the government meeting on Tuesday, Tusk assured that there is no shortage of people willing to serve their country, but emphasised that training is voluntary.“We must significantly expand the state's capacity so that anyone interested in military training can participate," he said. "In addition to the professional army and the territorial defense forces, we must effectively build a reserve army, and this is what our actions will be aimed at.” Tusk recalled that basic military training currently lasts one month and each participant receives 6,000 zlotys (€1,400), which is slightly less than the average national monthly salary (€1,500).“The most important thing for us is that by 2026 at the latest, everyone who is interested will be able to take part in such training. This is a challenging task, but I know it is achievable,” said the PM.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)

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BUDAPEST

Hungary announces food price cap to fight inflation. Hungary's government will introduce profit-margin caps on a range of food products from mid-March to curb rising supermarket prices, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Tuesday. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak president handed petition for referendum to end sanctions against Russia. The Pro-Russian motorcycle group Brat za Brata (Brother for Brother) has submitted 450,000 signatures to the Slovak president's office, demanding a vote on lifting sanctions against Russia. President Peter Pellegrini must now decide whether to validate the petition and call the referendum. However, doubts remain over the petition’s authenticity and it is unclear how the group managed to collect such a high number of signatures in less than five months. If the presidential office verifies enough signatures, Pellegrini could call the referendum or refer the matter to the Constitutional Court. For a referendum to be called in Slovakia, the required minimum of valid signatures is 350,000. Problems could further arise due to the nature of the question, though. A unilateral withdrawal from the sanctions by Slovakia would be in conflict not only with several EU regulations but also with the founding treaties of the EU, particularly the content of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty 2009.

(Lucia Lauková | Euractiv.sk)

SOFIA

Bulgaria on brink of constitutional crisis. Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court has warned it faces unprecedented obstacles in deciding a case that has the potential to reshuffle the balance of power in parliament in Sofia and even topple the government.The court is examining the results of the country’s last general election and has found vote-counting irregularities that, if cleared, could send the populist Velichie party into parliament and take away the majority of the four-party ruling coalition led by GERB (EPP). But the Constitutional Court says it is blocked from making a final decision on the case by the Central Election Commission and the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office.The President of the Court, Pavlina Panova, made an unprecedented television address to the nation on Tuesday, saying that an attempt is being made to sabotage the constitutional case for violations during the October 2024 elections.“All state bodies are obliged to provide full cooperation to the court, and not to obstruct its activities. It is unacceptable for the activities of the Constitutional Court to be made dependent on the actions or inactions of other state bodies,” said Panova.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)

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BUCHAREST

Constitutional Court removes Georgescu from presidential race. Pro-Russian politician Călin Georgescu has been barred from running in the May presidential election, following a ruling by the Constitutional Court on Tuesday evening. The court rejected his appeal against the decision of the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC). The judges of the Constitutional Court (CCR) reviewed Georgescu’s appeal against the BEC’s 9 March decision, which had already rejected his candidacy. The rejection was based on the CCR’s prior ruling to annul the November 2024 presidential election. On Tuesday evening, hundreds of Georgescu’s supporters gathered in protest outside the court’s headquarters. Security measures were heightened, with CCR judges escorted into the meeting room by Parliament security personnel and gendarmes, an unprecedented step for a court session. Additional security forces were deployed outside Parliament. The CCR’s rulings are final and cannot be appealed. Extremist parties now have until Saturday, March 15, to put forward a new presidential candidate. Among the names being discussed are AUR leader George Simion and AUR MEP Claudiu Târziu.

(Catalina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)

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[Edited by Vas Panagiotopoulos, Charles Szumski, Daniel Eck, Sofia Mandilara]