Activists intervened in the building where the European Commission is based in Brussels. With slogans like “Trump Tower” and “We resist the Trump agenda” and building a replica of one of Donald Trump’s skyscrapers, sending a message to stop bowing to his demands.
Activists in its Belgian office complain about the EU’s continued dependence on oil and gas imports, the dismantling of measures to protect the environment, public health and privacy, and the lack of resistance to US violations of international law.
Ariadna Rodrigo, political campaigns manager at Greenpeace’s European office, said: “Trump wants to dominate Europe and so far most European politicians seem to let him do what he wants, so we’re helping them by creating the right decorum. Trump is violating international law and, instead of standing up to him, EU leaders are removing protections for our health and environment and trapping Europe in US oil and gas, to please him and his billionaire friends. When EU politicians say they want to ‘simplify the rules for competitiveness’, what they mean is to allow companies to use more toxic chemicals in our clothes and food, or to let tech companies invade our privacy. A transition to 100% renewable energy and sustainable agriculture would “break” our dependence on fossil fuels and Trump’s rule, while protecting citizens’ bills from geopolitical upheavals. The EU must resist Trump’s agenda of chaos and cruelty, and stand up for ordinary people instead of corporations and the super-rich.”
The 27 EU heads of government are meeting to discuss Europe’s response to the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the associated rise in energy prices, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the next EU budget, as well as their own efforts to deregulate EU protections for the environment, public health and digital privacy.
The US government and corporate lobbyists are pressuring the EU to scrap some of its environmental and social protections, such as the EU’s anti-deforestation law, the methane regulation and the digital tax.
EU leaders have been mostly reluctant to condemn US President Donald Trump’s recent threats and attacks against Venezuela, Cuba and Iran, despite concerns that they violate international law. Greenpeace calls on all governments to respect international law and protect citizens. It also calls on the EU to press for an immediate end to military hostilities and humanitarian aid blockades.
EU-US trade agreement
As part of a proposed deal to cut tariffs on trade in goods between the EU and the US, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged that the EU would import $750 billion worth of US energy by the end of 2028, mostly oil and gas. As early as 2025, the US provided 27% of the EU’s gas imports, a figure that could rise to 40% by 2030.
The European Parliament’s trade committee is scheduled to vote to approve the deal, which will then be referred to the full Parliament for a vote, possibly on March 25-26. Greenpeace warns that the EU’s dependence on fossil fuel imports, in addition to accelerating the climate crisis, gives leverage to authoritarian governments against the EU and exposes European households to the risk of volatile prices. Greenpeace calls on MEPs to vote against the EU-US trade deal.
As for the Greek government, we see it developing into an increasingly close supporter of the Trump administration:
● Adjusts the country’s energy policy to specific economic interests from the US.
●Supports the EU-US agreement to import huge quantities of the most expensive and polluting fossil gas, burdening the state budget, instead of investing in sustainable energy solutions with multiple benefits for society, the environment, the national and local economy.
●He has ceded the seas of western and southern Greece to the largest American companies (Exxon Mobil, Chevron) which have a bad history of accidents and interventions against climate policy, but also of deliberate refusal to extract gas for many decades.
● He thus risks the future of the Greek seas for meager – currently only hypothetical – benefits.
● Collaborates with the Trump administration to undermine the shipping emissions rulemaking process.
● For the sake of these pursuits it has now sided with the reactionary forces within the EU.
With these policies, it not only deepens its involvement in plans supported by the US and Israeli governments, but ultimately undermines the future of Greek society and the economy. An energy policy based on energy security and safeguarding the social and economic interest of Greece must aim at the weaning off of fossil fuels, with the simultaneous development of the domestic potential for sustainable and fair energy production from RES, infrastructure for energy storage and energy transmission networks.
