EU's assertiveness weakened by divisions: China Daily editorial

Two days after the new US president took office saying the European Union is "very, very bad" to the United States and threatened to impose tariffs on the bloc's exports, France and Germany replied in one voice that Europe will seek good cooperation with the US as "a constructive and assertive partner".

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Paris on Wednesday to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in an apparent move to discuss the EU's response to the comeback of "America first".

During a joint news conference at the Elysee Palace, the two leaders pledged to act to forge a "strong" Europe. Macron said that more than ever it is necessary to consolidate a "united, strong and sovereign Europe".

Scholz echoed that saying, "Europe will not cower and hide, but instead be a constructive and assertive partner", adding this position will be "the basis for good cooperation with the new American president".

The two leaders' emphasis on the need for the EU to not only ramp up its defense spending but also to "develop its own industrial base, its own capacities, its own industry" should be seen as a direct response to the new US administration's tariff threats and demand that the US' allies increase their defense spending from 2 percent to 5 percent of their GDP, which is almost impossible, or pay for the US' protection.

Although as Macron said it is a critical moment for France and Germany to take a leading role and ensure that Europe is capable of defending its interests, neither the EU's trade frictions with the US nor their disputes on defense affairs are easy to resolve without hurting the bloc's interests.

The EU should draw lessons from its dealing with the administration during the US president's previous term in office, and realize it is almost impossible to find solutions to the de facto zero-sum scenarios on trade and defense problems forged by the US side that can butter both sides of the bread at the same time. In other words, if the EU wants to keep the longstanding relationship between the EU and the US intact, it will have to pay to do so.

Neither Macron nor Scholz expounded on how to consolidate "a united, strong, and sovereign Europe" as a response to the new US administration, which the German leader called "a challenge". But they are well aware how the bloc has not been able to demonstrate those due to its blind following of the US under the former US administration on many key issues, including those related to the Ukraine crisis and "de-risking" from China, thanks to some pro-US politicians' influences in the bloc.

The rise of far-right political forces in Europe has forced many of the EU members to follow the US' line rather than caring for the collective interest of the EU.

That European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stopped short of even mentioning the US' walking away from the Paris Agreement in her remarks on the green transition at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, one day after the new US president announced his country's withdrawal from the pact for the second time, just serves to demonstrate how some in the EU leadership are still willing to sacrifice the EU's interests to maintain a "united front" with the US.

The bloc has designed and dug its industrial, technological and trade moats with the US in the watchtower at the center of their joint fortress over the past four years. But now it has to swallow the bitter pill that under the new US administration that means the EU is in a disadvantaged position and needs to be vigilant lest it is stabbed in the back.

Scholz and Macron are both in precarious positions. The former is polling badly ahead of the German election set for late next month, while the latter was weakened by snap elections last year that resulted in a divided French parliament.

The real challenge to the EU is not any external factor, but its internal divisions.