'It's important to finalise the EU-US trade agreement': EU Economy Commissioner Dombrovskis

As Europe faces unprecedented geopolitical headwinds, from the Ukraine war to Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland, we speak to the EU Commissioner in charge of the economy, productivity, and simplification: Valdis Dombrovskis. A former prime minister of Latvia, Dombrovskis is very much a Brussels insider, serving in various high-profile roles in the EU Commission since 2016, and as a member of the European Parliament in 2004-2009.

Asked if Europe has been too soft on Trump during the Greenland crisis, Dombrovskis answers: "The EU was very clear that threats to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of EU member states are not acceptable, and so are the tariff threats. And correspondingly, we were ready to react forcefully. I think that was one of the factors which eventually helped to change President Trump's mind. And the focus now is where it should be: on how to strengthen security in the Arctic region."

But, we ask, is it not naïve to go back to business as usual, especially when it comes to US-EU trade, and the bilateral trade agreement?

"We managed to get the situation (with the US) into a constructive trajectory," Dombrovskis responds. "Correspondingly, it would be important to indeed finalise the (trade) agreement also from our side, because it's important to provide some stability and predictability for economies and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. It's worth noting that the EU-US trade and investment relationship is the largest in the world."

On the issue of defence, Dombrovskis explains how "buy European" rules will affect Ukraine's military capabilities.

"The European Commission has proposed a balanced solution. There is a clear priority for European manufacturers, and that includes Ukraine itself," Dombrovskis asserts. "But there is also a cascading mechanism, meaning that if there's certain military equipment which Ukraine urgently needs, but which is not readily available from the eligible (European) producers, Ukraine can purchase this equipment from other producers. Right now the situation in Ukraine is very dire. We see that Russia has substantially intensified its attacks against Ukrainian cities, against Ukrainian energy. And in a situation like this, to block weapons deliveries, for example air defence systems or other deliveries which are urgently needed, that would certainly not be justified."

We turn to the controversial issue of simplification, which environmental groups and trade unions have criticised, saying that the Green Deal and social protections are being rolled back in the process.

"Our simplification work is not deregulation," Dombrovskis counters. "We are not giving away our high social or environmental standards. We are sticking with the European Green Deal 2030 targets, and 2050 targets. So what it's about is how to reach our goals in a simpler and less burdensome manner. If you listen to businesses, the majority of them are saying that the excessive administrative burden is an obstacle for development, and for investing in Europe. A majority of small and medium-sized enterprises are saying it's their main obstacle. And that's why we are pursuing this simplification agenda, with the aim of reducing the overall administrative burden by 25 percent for all companies, and by 35 percent for small and medium enterprises."

Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Perrine Desplats and Isabelle Romero