"We have no bros and no oligarchs"

https://www.zeit.de/politik/2025-04/ursula-von-der-leyen-eu-usa-donald-trump-english

by emsign • 1 year ago

16 16 1 year ago

zeit.de

johngladtj• 1 year ago

She's right, they have bureaucracy and eurocrats

cjbenedikt• 1 year ago

...and you know that because...???

9283409232• 1 year ago

I don't know about that but I believe the EU and Canada have the opportunity to take advantage of this and incite a brain drain in the US. All of those talented grad students have to go somewhere and they will likely go to UBC, Waterloo, or University of Toronto. All of those entrepreneurs who are afraid for there safety in the US will go somewhere else. Canada and Europe should make strong moves for them.

xenospn3• 1 year ago

Just make it easy to start a company, accept payments and hire/fire people. That’s all you need!

anotherhue• 1 year ago

And make it easy cheap and fast to sue for clear violations.

We can only go fast if people have trust.

maeil• 1 year ago

To get bros and oligarchs, and get to the state the US is in, you mean? Very true.

xenospn3• 1 year ago

That’s quite the leap

cruzcampo2• 1 year ago

The firing of people is what we don't want in Europe. We like social stability so we don't go off the deep end like other superpowers.

xenospn3• 1 year ago

You can have social stability and fast moving economy. Israel has tons of startups and social stability with a social safety net. It can be done.

toomuchtodo• 1 year ago

Europe has better quality of life, America is a dystopian hellscape. “Just”? Better to not and let the tech bros cry about their inability to flip their VC backed pigs onto the greater fool. It’s not innovation, it’s an ecosystem of grifters and unfavorable risk adjusted returns (broadly speaking; there’s always a few diamonds in the dumpster fire).

cbg0• 1 year ago

... the new reality also includes the fact that many other states are seeking to draw closer to us. 13% of global trade is with the United States. That's a lot. 87% of the world's trade is with other countries. And they all want predictability and reliable rules. Europe can deliver that. We must now use this momentum to open up new markets for our companies and establish as close a relationship as possible with many countries that have the same interests as us.

Emphasis mine; While everyone is certainly a fan of brining back local manufacturing (and I think we should be looking to do more of this in Europe as well) the speed and lack of planning with which team Trump decided to start putting into action tariffs as well as reducing their military support has made the US a very unreliable partner in the eyes of the world.

Instead of bowing down to Trump's whims, the world is forging new trade partnerships which may very well be to the detriment of the US, which has thrown a lot of soft power out the window within a matter of weeks.

emsign• 1 year ago

Nixon and Reagan also tried to bring back manufacturing, we all know now that it didn't work. And I'm sure their plan wasn't as chaoticas Trump's, in case he has one.

ano-ther• 1 year ago

The administration between 2020 and 2024 seems to have had some success in raising spending on new manufacturing.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TLMFGCON

superkuh• 1 year ago

This is the silver lining of being the country (and continent) that remembers doing the worst possible stuff 60-80 years ago. There is some resistance to doing it again.

jjani• 1 year ago

Good interview, I don't remember seeing a president of the EU commission ever talking this much sense. The part on digital services is something I've brought up multiple times in the tariffs discussions as predictably, I haven't seen any US outlet point it out, even those extremely critical about the tariffs. Even on HN.

Of course, that she's saying the right things says nothing about whether she will actually enact them. The longer term response to the tariffs will reveal everything. If the EU simply lets the US get away with adding 10% and getting nothing in return - or even worse, if the EU gives up the DMA, GDPR or other things for appeasement purposes - then her words will be meaningless. If the 10% stays, a 10% DST is the minimum to respond with.

"We have no bros and no oligarchs"

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