“We do not accept the law of the strongest”

“We must not passively accept the law of the strongest, as this leads to a politics of the strongest and a neocolonial approach. Neocolonialism is not the solution,” the French president stressed.

In his speech, Macron called “unacceptable” the tariffs with which the Republican has threatened countries that oppose “With Greenland, we have not threatened anyone, we have supported an ally, Denmark,” he defended.

Faced with these threats, the French president has urged its partners in the European Union not to hesitate in applying the anti-coercion mechanismthe one known as ‘commercial bazooka’, when “we are not respected and the rules of the game are not respected” and he advocated remaining “calm” and “not passively accepting the law of the strongest.”

“We should have no hesitation in using it. Europe has very powerful tools and we must use them when we are not respected and when the rules of the game are not respected,” said Macron in reference to this mechanism that the EU was equipped with at the end of 2023 and which has not yet been released.

These statements by Macron come after the American president threatened to apply additional tariffs of 10% on the eight Europeans who carry out military maneuvers in Greenland -Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, as well as Norway and the United Kingdom-, as well as 200% on French wines and champagnes due to the refusal of the French president to enter the Peace Board for Gaza designed by the Republican.

Macron urged people to assume “responsibility” to confront these trends and “brutal acts.”

“Europe must defend multilateralismwhich serves our interests and those of all those who refuse to submit to brute force,” he added, which is why he defended that the EU should be given “more sovereignty and autonomy” in a world that is directed to “the law of the strongest”, while making a plea for international cooperation and multilateralism, in forums such as the United Nations or the G7, which France presides over this semester.

“We prefer respect to beasts, science to conspiracy theories and the rule of law to brutality”declared Macron, who praised that Europe is “a place where the rule of law and predictability remain the norm.”

In this same forum, Davos, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenalso warned this Tuesday Trump that it would be “a mistake, especially among long-standing allies,” to apply those tariffsespecially after the pact between Washington and Brussels so that goods produced in the EU are subject to a general tariff of 15% in the US.

The spill in Macron’s eye

The French president appeared again this Tuesday in Davos with some aviator-style mirror sunglasses due to stroke in right eye that has been dragging on since last week.

A look with which he already surprised on January 15 during a visit to the Istres air base (southeast of France).

Surrounded by fighter jets, in the midst of an impressive military display, the French president appeared with some aviator sunglasses that caused surprise and which the Elysée medical service later justified as an eye spill.

Macron took off his glasses during the speech and addressed the issue of his eye among jokes: “I want to apologize for the unaesthetic nature of my eye. It is something unimportant. “It may be an involuntary reference to the eye of the tiger at the beginning of the year.”

He ‘eye of the tiger’ to which Macron referred had a double meaning. On the one hand, Georges Clemenceau, prime minister and figure of French firmness during the First World War, a well-chosen symbol for a markedly military speech.

But the president marked a second reference, that of a gem, ‘the tiger’s eye’, which symbolizes “determination.”

Measures being considered by the EU

The anti-coercion instrument of the community bloc, known as the ‘commercial bazooka’, It is one of the measures that the Twenty-Seven are considering in case Trump imposes tariffs against eight European countries in his attempt to acquire Greenland.

Along with the ‘commercial bazooka’, lThe EU studies other possible economic retaliations worth about 93 billion eurosmeasures that will be discussed on Thursday at an extraordinary summit of European leaders convened in Brussels.

The Most European capitals are currently committed to dialogue with Washington to try to reduce the tension and understand what is true in the threats of the tenant of the White House.

Given the eventual imposition of tariffs from Washington, Brussels would react with its own taxes on the import of American productsworth about 93,000 million euros annually.

Los main products affected This tariff package would include aviation and machinery, cars and agri-food products such as bourbon whiskey, as well as peanut butter, cranberries or orange juice.

The EU prepared this package last year in the midst of a trade confrontation with Washington, but suspended its implementation while negotiating the pact that Trump and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, signed in Scotland in the summer, in which Brussels accepted a 15% tax on a large number of European products, including cars and semiconductors, while the United States managed to end up without EU tariffs.

Currently, the 93 billion euro list is frozen until February 6, but could be reactivated the next day if the Twenty-Seven choose not to extend the suspension, something they will have to decide in the coming weeks.

What is the ‘commercial bazooka’

This instrument, which is informally known as the ‘trade bazooka’, came into force in 2023 to address “a situation in which a third country tries to pressure the EU or a Member State to make a certain decision, by applying or attempting to apply measures that affect trade or investment.”

The instrument provides for the European Commission to act gradually to end the threat, first by entering into negotiations with the country in question and only ultimately adopting trade retaliation, which could include a wide range of measures.

For example, restrictions on imports and exports to the United States, on their investments in the EU, restricting the intellectual property rights of American companies or prohibiting them from participating in public tenders.

Its implementation can take several months and the first reprisals could take up to a year to arrive, although the deadlines can be shortened if we want to act quickly.

Firstly, the Commission has up to four months to verify that the EU is facing economic coercion.

Once that conclusion has been reached, EU countries have a maximum of 10 weeks to ratify it by a qualified majority, that is, with the approval of at least 15 countries representing 65% of the population.

Brussels would then have six months to propose retaliation.