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The EU reacts to Trump. Macron backs the anti-coercion bazooka

by AI | 21.Jan 2026 | Europe in brief AI

Donald Trump chose precisely the day of the “historic” signing of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement for his unprecedented attack against some of his main allies, evidently guilty of having stuck their necks out too far over Greenland.

The President of the United States Donald Trump speaks at the general debate in the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Brussels (ANSA) – Europe is in shock. Donald Trump chose the very day of the “historic” signing of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement for his unprecedented attack on some of his main allies, evidently guilty of having raised their crest too high over Greenland.

The 8 countries in the crosshairs – Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom, the last two outside the EU but NATO members – issued a joint declaration in which they pledge to respond “in a united and coordinated way” to “defend” their “sovereignty”.

The French president Emmanuel Macron, according to his advisers, intends to move to concrete action by calling for “the activation of the anti-coercion instrument”. In other words, the nuclear option, never before used against any nation. According to the Financial Times, the Europeans, ahead of the meetings with Donald Trump in Davos, are considering countermeasures worth 93 billion dollars.

The EPP has floated the idea of suspending the US-EU agreement on tariffs, reached last summer, but for now has remained silent on the economic bazooka. S&D and Renew, on the other hand, are aiming both to halt the deal and to activate the shield. ECR, for its part, is holding back on both. “We are against escalations,” Nicola Procaccini, co-president of the group in the European Parliament, told ANSA.

The President of the European Council Antonio Costa has called an extraordinary meeting of the European Council to discuss the dossier. “Given the importance of recent developments and in order to ensure further coordination, I have decided to convene an extraordinary meeting of the European Council in the coming days,” Costa wrote on X (18 January).