The European Union is looking for new friends

BrusselsOne of the EU's main reasons for being is the common market and international trade. Both internally and externally, these ties have prevented conflicts and allowed it to exert what is known as soft power worldwide. Therefore, its partners are a key element for the smooth functioning of the EU. However, its main historical allies—the United States, China, and Russia—are failing it, or in some cases, relations have already completely broken down. It is in this context that the EU finds itself alone and is looking for new friends

The most critical ally is the United States. The European bloc outsourced its defense to the American power after the end of World War II. Attempts at a European military union failed, and the vast majority of European countries opted to join NATO, an organization that controls de facto The Pentagon. The price to pay is a heavy reliance on US interests and the current occupant of the White House. Donald Trump is straining the Atlantic Alliance to unprecedented levels and, despite the constant humiliations and threatsThe European partners are not considering leaving the organization under any circumstances, especially amidst the expansionism of Vladimir Putin's regime.

Another dependency created was that of Russian fossil fuels. In particular, countries like Germany had access to relatively cheap energy, and the Kremlin obtained concessions in return until the invasion of Ukraine, which made relations unsustainable. The EU abruptly severed ties with Moscow, triggering an energy crisis, and European industry lost competitiveness. Furthermore, Russian expansionism became a very real threat, destabilizing the EU environment and even the blog itself. The Kremlin's ties also hinder the expansion of the European bloc, for example, in the Western Balkans; and its rapprochement with regions like Africa or Latin America, where the Russian regime is increasingly influential.

With Trump's return and the Russian threat, the debate resurfaced The EU should look towards ChinaHowever, despite some overtures from member states that have good relations with them due to industrial issues, particularly Germany and Spain, the overall stance of the European Union remains very hesitant. The European club describes the Asian giant as a "systemic rival" and clearly sees it as a growing threat. The EU is continuously implementing measures, which Brussels calls "risk reduction." Among other things, it is increasing tariffs on Chinese imports and, for example, wants to prevent win public tenders which could pose a risk to European security.

Trade agreements with Mercosur and India

Brussels doesn't want to lose its relationship with the United States or China, but they have become increasingly unreliable allies, and the EU intends to find new ones. European partners want to avoid putting all their eggs in one basket, and that's why they have signed a trade agreement with Mercosur –Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia– after more than 25 years of negotiations, as well as another agreement with India. The EU itself describes the pact with New Delhi as "the mother of all agreements," since it will create a free trade zone of some 2 billion people.

Despite the reluctance of some member states and political leaders to sign these pacts, the researcher from think tank European EPC Ivano di Carlo, in a conversation with ARA, asserts that he sees it as "key" for the EU to find new trading partners. He in no way considers this contradictory to the EU's desire to gain strategic autonomy and maintains that "diversifying" allies is a good path, especially for achieving a stronger position vis-à-vis powers like China or the United States. However, the expert counters that this does not mean that "protectionist measures will not be taken in some cases."

Di Carlo also downplays the fact that the EU has trade deficits with some of the countries with which it has signed agreements, such as India or Mercosur. In this regard, the expert points out that these are "minor" differences and in no way "risky," as with China. "A trade agreement should be evaluated based on what it contributes overall and in terms of strategic autonomy," the EPC researcher notes.

Beyond the Mercosur and IndiaThe EPC researcher encourages the EU to expand trade agreements to regions such as the Indo-Pacific or especially Africa, which he sees as having potential due to its "geographical proximity" and wealth of critical minerals. Along the same lines, former EU trade negotiator and director of international affairs at the European Commission, John Clarke, states in this newspaper that the EU "wants to think" that the agreement with India will represent a "tectonic shift in international trade," as EU relations will no longer be primarily focused on finding new major allies and markets. However, the former senior European official counters that these types of agreements are not without their contradictions. They are often concluded with regimes whose democratic standards are lower than those of the EU itself and which have alliances detrimental to the European bloc. This is the case with India, which maintains very good relations with Moscow and Beijing, or with many of the countries that make up Mercosur. Therefore, the EU's path to finding new allies is also expected to be steep, but at the moment neither experts nor European leaders see an alternative. "Isolation is not the solution," emphasizes the EPC researcher.