The trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU seemed like a done deal. But now, voices in Brussels and EU capitals are demanding renegotiations. A weeks-long impasse over digital censorship and climate policy looms.
The EU’s negotiation style mirrors its power politics: maximal demands, leaving little room for compromise. When deals fail, Brussels responds with sanctions. Russia, grappling with its 18th sanctions package, is a prime example -- an economic own goal, but that’s another matter.
To grasp the Brussels elite’s mindset, recall a pungent quote from former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. In 1999, he told Der Spiegel:
“We decide something, put it out there, and wait to see what happens. If there’s no uproar and no riots -- because most people don’t grasp what was decided -- then we go on, step by step, until there’s no turning back.”
This naive candor revealed the deep-seated technocratic arrogance shaping the EU bureaucracy. U.S. President Donald Trump is now getting a taste.
Trench Warfare and Renegotiation
Just days after the trade deal was announced, a typical European partisan war begins. Editorials, political voices, and even a pre-negotiation query in the European Parliament are pushing back on digital and climate clauses.
These are Brussels’ core power zones. A June 25 query to the Commission states:
“The Commission and Parliament must uphold the principle that global challenges like digital taxation require global solutions [...] Large multinational tech firms must pay a fair share to the public finances where they generate value.”
It also confirms that a EU-wide digital levy -- new "own resources" -- was recently raised again by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen and Chancellor Friedrich Merz both stressed that "details" remain to be worked out -- especially in the digital economy and climate policy.
Different Priorities
Letting Brussels reopen these sensitive issues may have been a structural error in the deal. From Washington’s view, fixing the trade deficit and boosting tariff revenue are key priorities.
But for EU civil society, this is a grim development. Without American pressure, no power stands between Brussels and its expanding surveillance regime. London’s “Online Safety Act” sets the tone -- introducing preemptive censorship of uploads. Criticism of migration, gender politics, or Islam is now classed as “hate speech.”
Brussels is watching. The UK’s trial run will likely be copied via the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA): a Ministry of Truth with fast-track prosecution of dissent. Free debate gives way to moderated conformity.
Doubling Down on Climate Policy
Simultaneously, Brussels is mobilizing its NGO networks to discredit America’s deregulation agenda. The Green Deal is now the EU’s ideological insurance policy. Regulatory tools like climate benchmarks block competitors and shield domestic industries.
Environmental NGOs attack the trade deal’s energy chapter. BEE’s Wolfram Axthelm calls it a “subversion of the Green Deal.” The German Environmental Aid association deems it a “catastrophic signal.” BUND accuses Brussels of “kneeling before fossil interests.”
Their unified message: importing $750 billion in fossil fuels from the U.S. undermines EU climate goals.
This PR blitz reveals Brussels’ negotiation line: the climate front is its final trench. Expect a barrage of NGO-led climate apocalypse messaging to build public support.
Green Protectionism Machine
What’s sold as “values-based policy” is in truth a technocratic protectionist engine devastating Europe’s economy. Deindustrialization is no longer a risk -- it’s reality. Brussels’ climate dogma accelerates what it claims to prevent: economic suicide.
Climate policy exposes the EU’s power dilemma: its neutrality absolutism guts Europe’s economy. It’s high time to reopen energy channels -- even with Russia -- to regain leverage. With 58% of its energy imported, Europe’s strategic vulnerability is acute.
EU resistance to the U.S. trade deal signals drawn-out renegotiations ahead. It’s unlikely Trump will dismantle Europe’s climate orthodoxy or digital censorship. Brussels would rather bear steep economic costs than give up the levers of its power.
Image: Derek Bennett