On January 18, the European Union (EU) said that the bloc had agreed in principle to both persuade and deter against US President Donald Trump's announcement of imposing a series of new tariffs on European allies.
A day earlier, Mr. Trump pledged that from February 1, the US would gradually increase tariffs on Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and the UK and Norway, until the US is allowed to "buy" Greenland.
According to EU diplomats, bloc leaders will discuss response options at an emergency summit in Brussels on January 22.
An option that is receiving widespread support is a retaliatory tax package worth about 93 billion euros (equivalent to 107 billion USD) for goods imported from the US. This package was previously suspended for 6 months and can be automatically activated from February 6.
The second option is to activate the "Anti-Coercion Instrument - ACI", an unprecedented mechanism of the EU, allowing restrictions on access to public tenders, investment, banking operations or imposing measures on trade in services - a sector in which the US is having a large surplus with the EU, especially digital services.
However, according to an EU source, support for ACI is currently "very mixed", while the tariff option is considered a more feasible initial step.
European Council President Antonio Costa said his consultations with member states showed a strong commitment to supporting Denmark and Greenland, as well as being ready to protect the EU from all forms of coercion.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen affirmed in a written statement that she was "encouraged by consistent messages from the rest of Europe", emphasizing: "Europe will not be blackmailed".
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, during a visit to Norway, said that Copenhagen will continue to pursue dialogue, and reiterated the trilateral agreement between Denmark, Greenland and the United States reached on January 14 on establishing a new framework for cooperation.
America is not just the President of America. I was just there, American society also has control and countermeasures mechanisms" - he said.
EU dialogue efforts are also expected to be a prominent topic at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Mr. Trump will deliver an important speech on January 21, marking his first appearance at this event in 6 years.
8 countries targeted by the US are currently subject to 10-15% tariffs and have deployed a small number of troops to Greenland amid escalating tensions with Washington regarding the future of this vast Arctic island.
Inside the EU, the views are still different. A source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said that Paris is promoting the activation of ACI.
Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said that the EU will definitely retaliate if necessary, but the immediate use of this unprecedented tool is "a bit early".
The European Parliament is likely to suspend the ratification process of the EU-US agreement, while a German MP even suggested the possibility of boycotting the US-hosted World Cup as a "last resort" to put pressure on the Greenland issue.
