EU leaders meet for defence talks in Brussels as spectre of Donald Trump looms – Europe live | Europe

The European Union must remain united to respond to US president Donald Trump’s threats to levy tariffs on its products, Spanish economy minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Monday, Reuters reports.

The EU was open to trade and in favour of a globalised world market, though the bloc should not be “naive” and protect its companies and should make sure they were in a position to compete in equal conditions with rivals from other countries, Cuerpo said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE.

If you are interested in all the latest business reaction and stock markets movements after Trump’s tariffs, you can follow all of this on our business live blog here:

Spoiler alert: it’s not pretty.

German DAX, French CAC 40, Danish C25, Spanish IBEX, Italian FTSE MIB, British FTSE 100 all going in one direction.

Morning opening: Any Other Business

Jakub Krupa

EU leaders are gathering in Brussels this morning for an “informal retreat” to discuss European defence, including closer cooperation on procurement of defence capabilities.

If you’re thinking about a relaxing spa-like retreat, think again.

It is the first time EU leaders meet to discuss defence, but there are already some significant differences in how capitals seem to be thinking about these issues: French president Emmanuel Macron is understood to be pushing for the EU to primarily Buy European, while others worry that would further antagonise already fragile relations with the US.

Because, as has been a recurrent theme over the last two weeks, there is now no discussion on any topic that does not eventually lead to Donald Trump. Even if the question of dealing with his disruptive style of politics is not explicitly on the agenda and would probably fall under “any other business,” he is looming over almost every single thing the leaders will discuss today.

What is meant to be primarily a discussion on defence is therefore likely to at least touch upon questions on broader relationship with the US under Trump, after a frantic weekend during which he imposed “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”, tariffs, on Canada, China, and Mexico. They are due to kick in tomorrow.

Trump made it abundantly clear overnight that the EU is next, saying he would “definitely” go ahead with tariffs on the bloc “very soon” as it is “out of line.” “They take almost nothing, and we take everything,” he said in his unique style. “I wouldn’t say there’s a timeline, but it is going to be pretty soon,” he added.

The EU has previously signalled that it would retaliate and “respond firmly”. EU trade ministers are meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday, but it will be up to the leaders to decide the line on this and how much, if at all, they want to poke the bear further by turning only to European suppliers in defence.

In the meantime, the retreat on Monday also marks another occasion with British prime minister Keir Starmer attending an EU summit for the first time since Brexit five years ago. He will call upon all allies to “step up,” and urge EU leaders to “keep up the pressure” on Russian president Vladimir Putin to bring peace in the Ukraine war.

He will only join for a “working dinner” to discuss EU-UK defence, but his EU counterparts may also want to ask him on the sidelines to say a word or two about how he’s worked his charm on Trump.

The US president repeated on Sunday that while the UK was also “out of line,” “that one can be worked out,” and praised his relationship with Starmer, who is apparently “very nice.”

And as if all of that was not complicated or challenging enough, despite all the talk about potential thawing in relations with the former member state, the EU is reportedly considering stalling a new defence and security pact with the UK because of a dispute over fishing rights.

No one said it would be easy.

As this morning’s newsletter from the Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza depressingly notes, “Tomorrow was meant to be better, but it isn’t.”

Elsewhere in Europe, we will be looking at the situation in France, where prime minister François Bayrou is expected to try to push his budget through without a vote using a little constitutional mechanism 49.3. Watch out for reactions and if there is an attempt to force a confidence vote on the back of it, which could even see him gone by the end of the week.

I will also keep an eye on the situation in Greece, where authorities are on high alert after hundreds of seismic tremors in Santorini, with fears that a bigger earthquake could be coming soon. Let’s hope not.

It’s Monday, 3 February 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

Good morning.