Politico: Europe moves to cut reliance on US as Transatlantic ties strain

European governments and corporations are moving to reduce their dependence on US technology, military equipment and energy supplies, as relations across the Atlantic show signs of strain.

“For decades, some countries said ‘We have NATO, why should we have parallel structures?’” a senior EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of summit preparations, told Politico. 

After Trump’s Greenland saber-rattling, the diplomat said, “we are faced with the necessity, we have to set up military command structures within the EU.”

At a weekend retreat in Zagreb, Croatia, conservative European leaders, including Merz, agreed that the EU should strengthen its own mutual defence commitments. They pointed in particular to Article 42.7 of the EU treaty, which obliges member states to defend any EU country that comes under attack.

“If we want to be taken seriously again, we will have to learn the language of power politics,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week.

The clause has been in place since 2009 but has rarely been viewed as essential, as NATO’s Article 5 collective defense guarantee was seen as providing similar protection. However, doubts have grown in European capitals over whether the United States would reliably come to Europe’s defence in a future crisis.

During the Zagreb meeting, leaders endorsed a more assertive EU role as a security actor and tasked two leaders, yet to be named, with quickly drawing up plans to transform the mutual defense clause from a political commitment into what they described as a credible security guarantee.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte struck a more cautious tone in comments to EU lawmakers last week, saying that anyone who believed Europe could defend itself without US support should “keep on dreaming.”

Despite growing debate about strategic autonomy, Europe remains heavily dependent on US military capabilities, particularly in supporting Ukraine’s war effort against Russia. Still, some European officials and policymakers are increasingly arguing that the economic and political cost of reducing reliance on the United States would be manageable.

By Sabina Mammadli