Trump elected, Europe will have to move its buttocks!

(B2) Donald Trump's election to the US presidency will force Europeans to revise their foreign and defense policy. Even if Donald Trump's declarations on NATO may appear as campaign remarks (read: Trump's "America First". For Europe, a certain language of truth), make no mistake about it. A reflection must begin very quickly at the level of the 28 (27) Member States and lead to decisions...

Inline Europeans no longer have all-risk insurance in NATO. Either they invest sustainably and more decisively in the Atlantic Alliance to ensure their own defence, or they opt for a certain fatalism and honest neutralism. The few Eastern European countries hostile to any European defense - such as Poland or Lithuania - will have to revise their policy. It is not by spending only 2% of GDP on defense that we can achieve the defense of the European continent. It is by having capable, trained, interoperable forces that have a certain deterrent power. Today the European armies — apart from one or two — do not have this power of deterrence at the territorial level (despite 1,4 million soldiers under the flag!). And the American presence on European territory still appears necessary.

Inline Europeans must define their position in the world. If they want to weigh on a certain market of the world, assert their values, they must invest more, play more united, equip themselves (finally) with the minimum instruments of a policy of stabilization of the world. That is to say in particular instruments for conducting stabilization operations. We must stop dithering, no longer listen to the troublemakers and other Eurosceptics in the chamber on European power. The European Union must now equip itself with a genuine command and control (C2) structure for its peacekeeping operations (1). The EU must reflect on how best to use its potential diplomatic force to engage in ongoing conflicts.

3° Europeans must equip themselves with new tools of strategic autonomy. We must stop believing, as in the messiah, in the virtues of free trade without an effective sanctions tool. The European Union must therefore strengthen its anti-dumping policy and no longer hesitate to hit hard, by drastically increasing customs duties, in the event of unfair practices intended to capture markets. We must not be fooled... the destruction of European industrial capacities by a low-price policy from countries like China or India has only one objective: to destroy competition before raising prices. By not protecting its industry, in the name of ideological irredentism, Europe is weakening itself. We must also not hesitate to carry out industrial restructuring to equip ourselves with real European industrial champions. Europe must be proud of its Airbus and Ariane — which are vectors of growth — and set up others. We must no longer hesitate to play "as a group" in a divided world. Faced with an America that wants to be stronger, Europe must be stronger.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) NB: it is not a large Headquarters which is necessary as these detractors present it or the prelude to any European army with a centralized command. It is just an instrument — with a few dozen planners and military experts — allowing Europeans, when they decide on a mission or a military operation to stabilize or support security reform, to bridge the gap between the level of political decision (established at the level of ministers or ambassadors) and the level of tactical command (in the field). To refuse this advance is incomprehensible...