STATEMENT | The Greenland and Tariffs Wake-up Call: A 7-Points Roadmap for the United States of Europe
One year after Donald Trump’s second inauguration, it is clear that the strategy of appeasement pursued by Member States and Commission has utterly failed. It has not been just a miscalculation, but an abdication of duty. From false accusations of misinformation and limitation of the freedom of speech, to the arbitrary and unilateral NATO defence spending targets and the predatory "Turnberry Tariffs" (15% vs 0%), to the pressures to alter our digital and environmental regulations, the US National Security Strategy, the sanctions against EU citizens and former officials, blatant violations of international law, and the illegal pressure for Greenland’s annexation, Europe has endured a year of impositions and humiliations. Enough is enough!
The Union of European Federalists calls for an immediate change of course through the following 7-point programmatic roadmap:
I. Immediate Measures
- Rejection of the 2025 Turnberry Tariffs: The European Parliament must refuse to approve this lopsided deal. We cannot sacrifice our sovereignty and economy to avoid upsetting the White House.
- Activation of the Anti-Coercion Instrument: The EU must use its existing tools to counter Washington’s systematic policy of economic pressure to take over Greenland, including in the digital field.
- EU Deployment in Greenland: We must put the current deployment of troops from European countries in Greenland under EU command, including the planning of exercises by the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity. Protecting the territorial integrity of the Arctic is a common European responsibility.
II. Strategic Sovereignty
- Full European Responsibility for Ukraine: We must accept that the defence of Ukraine and of Europe are intertwined, and fall on us. This requires increasing and accelerating current investments to substitute the so-called "irreplaceable" US assets, specifically increasing our satellite capabilities, intelligence feed, strategic airlift, air-to-air refuelling, and high-end electronic warfare.
- Activation of Common Defence (Lisbon Treaty): As recently requested by leaders like Pedro Sánchez, we must activate the common defence provisions in the Lisbon Treaty, or by those States willing to proceed, in order to create an EU chain of military command, including the implementation of the Kubilius plan of a 100,000-strong EU multinational force.
- Strengthened promotion of EU models of digital payments: including the digital euro, social networks, software, and artificial intelligence.
III. The Federal Leap
- Constitutional Reform for the United States of Europe: We must immediately open the process for the reform of the Treaties on the basis of Parliament´s proposal of November 2023 to constitute the United States of Europe. This means an empowered Parliament, an Executive capable of acting, and the general abolition of national vetoes in the Council.
Appeasement only feeds authoritarianism and vassalisation; federal unity is our only way out.
As the poet Hölderlin wrote: "But where the danger is, also grows the saving power."
Brussels, 19th January 2026
Domènec Ruiz Devesa, President of the Union of the European Federalists and MEP 2019-2024
Mathilde Baudouin, Secretary General of the Union of European Federalists