EUROPEAN COMMISSION GETS AN F GRADE ON LOBBYING TRUMP

F indicates an unsatisfactory performance

1. Inadequate European Commission's lobbying efforts against US tariffs
2. No proactive and diversified approach
3. Lack of a comprehensive approach  (lack of a  unified and proactive strategy) 
4. Too much reliance on traditional  lobbying and diplomatic channels against a Trump administration known for its unconventional approach. 
5. Not enough robust and coordinated response to the broader range of potential trade and economic policies that could be implemented. 
6. Insufficient transatlantic ties with key US stakeholders, including business leaders, policymakers, and civil society groups as well as with think tanks, advocacy groups, and grassroots organizations. 

Reactions

• The EU should have pushed for better terms
• The von der Leyen-Trump agreement is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples who united to affirm their values and defend their interests, has resigned itself to submission (François Bayrou, French PM)
• The agreement is not balanced. The EU should keep pushing further on new trade terms with the US, including by potentially acting on the services sector and using the EU’s anti-coercion tools. (Laurent Saint Martin, French junior Minister for Trade
• Weakness of the bloc (Far right politicians in Germany)
• 15% tariffs, the obligation to source weapons and energy from the USA, are not an agreement, but a slap in the face to European consumers and producers! (Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative)
• The deal is an inadequate compromise that sends a “fatal signal” to the EU and the US economies (Federation of German Industries)
• A bad deal, the bloc has capitulated (Danny McCoy, the leader of Ireland’s business group, Ibec)
• The deal marks a dark day for the bloc’s energy and climate policy (Michael Bloss, German member of the Greens)
• The EU with its 27 member states has been given worse conditions than the United Kingdom. Sovereignty in trade matters does not add up: it dilutes, or in this case, cancels out, under the weight of Brussels bureaucracy, (Marine Le Pen)