Philippe Legrain

Europe needs independence from Trump’s America "The storm over Greenland may have abated for now, but Europe’s relations with Donald Trump remain grim."

Conclusion: We need a fortress Europe militarily, but not economically.

Check out my latest column for @brusselstimes.com

www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1937...

Why the EU’s new trade partnership with Mercosur matters "Against the backdrop of Trump’s aggression, Europe and Latin America need to cooperate more."

Third, develop & deepen partnerships that bypass US with

1) like-minded powers eg #Canada, #Japan, #Australia & #UK

2) emerging powers eg #India & #Mercosur, and

3) cooperate with #China eg on climate change.

This explains why EU-Mercosur deal matters btw

www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/1...

1) Invest massively in EU #tech (& deregulate);

2) Accelerate #energy transition to reduce US gas dependency

3) Issue more EU bonds to boost #euro's global role.

Second, reduce Europe's economic vulnerability.

Contrary to Trump's claims, EU-US trade is broadly balanced. So if Europe could defend itself, it could stand its ground economically.

But still diversify away from US, especially in areas Trump can use as leverage: eg tech, energy, finance

France & UK, Europe’s existing nuclear powers, should also develop a nuclear deterrence strategy for defending Europe if Trump won’t.

With a defence splurge, a drone wall & an enhanced nuclear deterrent, Europe could better defend Ukraine, deter Putin & resist Trump’s blackmail.

2) Invest massively in Ukrainian drone production to aid its defence & erect a drone wall along Europe's border with Russia.

3) Develop joint nuclear deterrent among #NATO countries that surround #Baltic Sea. Sweden & Finland have nuclear reactors & expertise to develop nukes

Top priority is #defence. While fully replacing US role will take years, big progress can be made quickly.

1) Spend much more, now. #EU borrowing ideally, raise taxes/cut spending otherwise. The state’s top priority is to defend its citizens. Failing to rearm is a false economy.

Europe needs independence from Trump’s America "The storm over Greenland may have abated for now, but Europe’s relations with Donald Trump remain grim."

After the #Greenland crisis, Europeans need to face facts: they can't rely on #Trump to protect them from #Russia; indeed, he too poses a threat.

It's time to accelerate plans to reduce Europe’s military, economic & tech dependence on Trump’s America.

www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1937...

Europe must turn the tables on Putin before talking The priority should be to maximise strategic leverage — and only then pursue communication channels

Good ideas from @martinsandbu.ft.com on what Europe needs to do to put more pressure on Putin, and be indispensable to talks about #Ukraine www.ft.com/content/7409...

Europe braces as Trump targets Greenland Trump has three options on how to acquire Greenland.

Conclusion: in a world governed by force, Europe needs to be able to defend itself – not by 2035, but now.

Europe braces as Trump targets Greenland Trump has three options on how to acquire Greenland.

When in 2019 Trump first suggested the US acquire #Greenland, Europeans dismissed the idea as a bad joke. But they’re not laughing now.

My @brusselstimes.com column explains why Trump wants it, how he might gain control & what that would mean for Europe.

www.brusselstimes.com/1910890/afte...

Superb @mortenmorland.bsky.social 🤣

Good piece by @plegrain.bsky.social - thanks for mentioning my "bad bank" proposal for the blocked Russian reserves.

thanks Martin

Ukraine’s ‘fortress belt’ that Donald Trump wants to trade for peace Known as the Donbas, the region has become the fulcrum of fraught US-led diplomacy to end Russia’s full-scale invasion

Ukraine’s ‘fortress belt’ that Donald Trump wants to trade for peace

Known as the Donbas, the region has become the fulcrum of fraught US-led diplomacy to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.

A bit of history, the recent past & present in my
@financialtimes.com piece today
www.ft.com/content/ec49...

Europe must stand with Ukraine, or they will fall together "EU leaders are quick to tweet that they 'stand with Ukraine'. But talk is cheap. Unless they are willing to follow words with action, Putin will rightly conclude that they are all mouth and no trouse...

Read my latest @brusselstimes.com column

www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/1...

Providing €80bn a year would entail borrowing 0.4% of EU GDP a year, a total of only 2% of GDP over 5 years.

To bypass a Hungarian veto, a coalition of willing governments could, if necessary, establish a separate entity for that purpose, as they did during the eurozone crisis

If all else fails, the EU should simply borrow the money to fund Ukraine. That's what the Commission is proposing as a stopgap, and it could also be a viable longer-term solution.

There's a compelling case for using Russia’s frozen assets. It would be morally right, legally justified and politically expedient.

But Belgium, which hosts most of the assets, objects, as does Hungary’s pro-Putin PM Viktor Orban, and the Commission’s legal workaround is a stretch.

All the focus is on the European Commission’s latest plan to mobilise €210 billion of frozen Russian assets to fund a “reparations loan” repayable only if Russia pays Ukraine compensation for its aggression. The UK, Canada etc are also willing to chip in assets they have frozen.

With #Ukraine set to run out of cash early next year, and Trump no longer willing to help, it's up to Europe to provide the sustained support that Ukraine needs to defend its freedom and the rest of the continent’s security.

Europe must stand with Ukraine, or they will fall together "EU leaders are quick to tweet that they 'stand with Ukraine'. But talk is cheap. Unless they are willing to follow words with action, Putin will rightly conclude that they are all mouth and no trouse...

#EU leaders are quick to tweet that they #StandWithUkraine But talk is cheap. Unless they're willing to follow words with action, Putin will rightly conclude that they are 'all mouth and no trousers'.

www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/1...

Why the EU isn’t a superpower yet The EU has four big weaknesses that prevent it standing up to superpowers such as the US and China.

My latest column for @BrusselsTimes analyses the EU's 4 big weaknesses and sets out what it needs to do to become a superpower.

www.brusselstimes.com/column/18342...

Why the EU isn’t a superpower yet The EU has four big weaknesses that prevent it standing up to superpowers such as the US and China.

Trump & #Putin negotiating on #Ukraine without consulting Europeans

#EU capitulating to #Trump on trade

EU factories choked by #China's rare-earth curbs

Now global decisions dictated by hard-power realities not technocratic rules, once-mighty EU is puny.

www.brusselstimes.com/column/18342...

www.gov.uk/government/s...

I see it's now fine for Conservative MPs to lie not just about the facts, but about their own party's stated policy.

Most "foreigners" on benefits have entitlement via the EU Settlement Scheme and withdrawing those rights would breach the Withdrawal Agreement (and is not Conservative policy)

I ran an experiment, simultaneously posting articles on Bluesky and X, and then testing to see how many people actually clicked and read them. The numbers on Bluesky are higher, both because the X algorithm downranks journalism, and because Bluesky attracts readers, not just shitposters.

Agreed. He often makes me question my views

Trump on Ukraine's attack on russian airbases and russia’s attack on Ukrainian cities:

“They gave Putin a reason to go and bomb the hell out of them… When I saw it, I said, here we go, now it’s going to be a strike…”

(Russia has been bombing Ukraine nonstop for over 3 years.)

Europe needs to rearm much faster How to overcome the three constraints: fiscal rules, financial borrowing power and political feasibility

Done right, eg @bruegel.bsky.social‬ EDM proposal, this could also help streamline military procurement, better integrate Europe’s fighting forces and provide a much-needed lift to Europe’s struggling economies.

Read my latest Substack essay for more.

philippelegrain.substack.com/p/europe-nee...