Berlin, 16.06.2026: Civil society organisations criticise today's approval by the European Parliament of the customs regulations that will implement the first part of the EU trade deal with Trump. The vote was based on a poor compromise, which was pushed for by Parliament in the framework of the trilogue negotiations with the Council of the EU and the Commission. Consent to the customs regulations weakens the EU's climate protection, democracy and sovereignty, according to criticism from civil society.
Thomas Fritz, PowerShift:
“The yes to customs regulations is a mistake. Against Trump, of all things, the EU renounces the usual practice of linking tariff cuts to compliance with international law, environmental and social standards. This is a blatant double standard vis-à-vis its other trading partners. With its approval, the EU also encourages Trump to demand further risky concessions - for example in the case of liquefied natural gas imports or in European digital law. The hope that the tariff deal will stabilise trade relations with the US also seems questionable. The U.S. is already preparing additional import tariffs under Section 301. Their level could even exceed the previous level of customs duties.”
Hanni Gramann, Attac:
“With its approval of the customs regulations, the European Parliament makes Trump a retrospective birthday present, as tariffs are the ‘most beautiful word in the whole dictionary’ for Trump. The regulations are not partnership-based customs agreements on an equal footing and weigh the EU in deceptive trade security. For example, the current tariffs of the US government are limited to 24 July and are to be replaced by another tariff regime.”
Theresa Kofler, Anders Handel:
“The EU should focus on the transformation towards a socially and environmentally just regional economy instead of ever more trade agreements. Global trade relations must be subordinated to the protection of climate and human rights. The EU-US deal is exactly the opposite. The current customs threats and (trade) wars, as well as vulnerabilities in global supply chains and dependencies on increasingly authoritarian regimes, should teach us to make this U-turn as soon as possible”.
Civil society organisations also announced that they would be critical of further negotiations on the remaining parts of the trade deal with the US. This is because there is a risk of further problematic concessions by the EU, including a weakening of the EU methane regulation in favour of US LNG exporters, tentative antitrust proceedings against US tech monopolies and an erosion of European supply chain regulations.
Contact:
- Thomas Fritz, PowerShift: 0160-93231548, thomas.fritz@power-shift.de
- Hanni Gramann, Attac: 0176 30608762, hanni.gramann@attac.de
- Theresa Kofler, Anders Handel: +43 650 3438378, theresa.kofler@anders-handeln.at
