Dutch Central Bank chief calls for stronger EU unity after Trump tariff threat

The European Union must act far more as a single bloc to protect itself against other global powers, the president of De Nederlandsche Bank said, citing both recent U.S. pressure and "deep internal economic barriers" that weaken Europe from within.

Olaf Sleijpen made the remarks on the Dutch public affairs program Buitenhof, referring to last week’s threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose import tariffs on European countries in a bid to annex Greenland, a move he later abandoned.

“First of all, I think Europe itself needs to work together more, politically, when it comes to security, but certainly also economically,” Sleijpen said when asked how the EU can stand up to major powers such as the United States under Trump.

Sleijpen pointed to an analysis by the European Central Bank concluding that existing trade barriers between EU member states effectively amount to a 65 percent tariff on goods. He argued that reducing those barriers would require stronger, more direct legislation from Brussels and less room for national variations in how EU rules are implemented. “That hurts, but the benefits are greater,” Sleijpen said. “Especially in the world we are in now.”

Trump’s tariff threat over Greenland, made about a week earlier and later withdrawn, drove home the importance of unity, Sleijpen said. He described the EU’s collective rejection of the U.S. pressure as a positive signal. “You can see that there was a breakthrough over the past week,” he said. “That European leaders have really come to feel: we now truly have to take that step forward together.”

Sleijpen also addressed Europe’s dependence on U.S.-based companies such as Visa and Mastercard for much of its payment traffic. While he said it would not be simple to disrupt European payments, he acknowledged vulnerabilities. “It is beneficial to become less dependent on providers from outside the EU,” Sleijpen said.