US president-elect Donald Trump needs to be steered away from policies that would lead to a trade war with Europe, the EU’s prospective industry commissioner has said.
Stéphane Séjourné, the French commissioner nominee and ally of president Emmanuel Macron, said Europe had to stop being “naive” to avoid falling behind economic rivals such as China. “We will work in the coming weeks to convince Americans we should not have a trade war,” he told MEPs in a European Parliament confirmation hearing.
Mr Séjourné said he was in favour of reducing the bureaucratic burden on businesses, but said that was not the same as deregulation.
In an earlier hearing Kaja Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia, said the EU needed to stick together given the fact the world was “on fire”. She said she would work with Mr Trump’s incoming administration if confirmed as the EU’s next foreign affairs representative.
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EU states should spend more on defence and build up their militaries to deter Russia, she told the European Parliament hearing. “The problem with defence is when you need it, it is too late to make the decisions, so we have to make the decision now when we are in peace time in order to be ready.”
She said the EU should avoid developing “alternative” joint command structures to the Nato military alliance as it could cause confusion in the case of a future attack in Europe.
Ms Kallas and Mr Séjourné were two of six nominees in line to become senior commissioners, known as vice-presidents in the EU’s executive arm, who were being questioned by MEPs on Tuesday. Others included Teresa Ribera, the left-wing commissioner from Spain in line for a role overseeing the climate transition and competition policy.
The EU had to stand behind Ukraine in fighting off Russia for “as long as it takes”, Ms Kallas told MEPs. The message could not go out to the world that invading another country “pays off”.
The former prime minister said there needed to be a meeting between the EU and Israel, under the terms of their trade agreement, where member states could raise human rights concerns about the war in Gaza. “When it comes to Palestine or Gaza, there is the United States we have to work with in order to achieve peace on the ground. There are Gulf countries that we have to work with to achieve results on the ground [and] also to work for the day after.”
Raffaele Fitto, the commissioner-designate from Italy set to be in charge of regional funding, told the hearings he would not be representing any party or member state if confirmed in the role. Cohesion funding given to poorer regions of the bloc, which accounts for about a third of the EU budget, needed to be protected in coming budget talks, he said.
Mr Fitto has come under pressure as a member of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard right Brothers of Italy party, with left leaning MEPs criticising his potential appointment as one of the six commission vice-presidents. Rasmus Andresen, a Green MEP from Germany, said several answers from Mr Fitto were “completely unclear”, and that he lacked a “strong commitment to the common European project”.
Decisions on whether to confirm Mr Fitto and Ms Kallas were postponed so that MEPs could vote on their future at the same time as the other senior commissioners, including Ms Ribera and Mr Séjourné.
Speaking at her hearing, Ms Ribera said while Europe was rich in culture and history it did not want to become simply “an attractive place for visitors” but to remain a strong economic force.
“If our economy depends on fossil fuels that we do not produce we will never be able to ensure prosperity. Europe’s long term competitiveness requires a shift away from fossil fuels…We must sustain the course of our ambitions.”
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