| Humiliation, surrender, defeat – the European Union has come under criticism across the continent for its tariff “deal” with the Trump administration. Yet it’s in France that the anger has come closest to becoming official government policy, with Prime Minister Francois Bayrou describing it as “submission” in a post on X and calling it “a dark day.” Laying the blame for a botched negotiation or unpopular policy at the feet of Brussels is of course a common occurrence in the EU, whose 27 members’ interests don’t always align. It’s notable that President Emmanuel Macron, who sees the upside of dodging a protracted conflict with a tariff-happy Trump administration, didn’t echo Bayrou’s tone. Still, the amount of vitriol generated across the political spectrum is remarkable. One of the most extensive takedowns comes from Dominique de Villepin, French foreign minister at the time of the US’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. In a 4,400-word polemic published on the Grand Continent website, he equates it to a vassalization of Europe, whose members are essentially being made to pay for their dependence on the US. The EU seems too slow, too divided and too complacent to resist, says Villepin, who spares nobody when sharing out the blame. Germany and Italy’s export industries wanted to cling to the US market; Eastern countries wanted access to American hard power; and France blew hot and cold by talking tough on Trump but pushing for its own sectoral carve-outs. Talk of European sovereignty has failed at first brush with reality. This is all music to the ears of populist parties, with Marine Le Pen joining the fray to condemn the “fiasco” – even though its source is the Trump she would seek to emulate. On the far-left, Jean-Luc Melenchon has also joined in by promising to fight US imperialism. Even Macron has had to admit the EU needs to toughen up – which doesn’t reflect well on his own success over the past decade in re-molding the EU post-Brexit. The silver lining is that there is now a widespread recognition that a full-scale hardening of Europe’s economic defenses is needed (see here for a few ideas.) But trying to fix the roof in the middle of a storm – with the tariff blizzard only starting – is never easy. | 
