EU-Handelskommissar: Abkommen mit Großbritannien wichtiger Schritt
In einem Interview mit Euronews sagt Maros Šefčovič, dass ein sehr wichtiger Schritt in Richtung eines neuen Kapitels in den bilateralen Beziehungen gegangen wurde.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2025/05/23/ich-hoffe-die-britische-offentlichkeit-erkennt-wie-praktisch-das-abkommen-ist-sagt-sefcovi
00:09My guest this week is EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.
00:13He's in the middle of a 90-day window of negotiations with the United States over trade tariffs.
00:19He says he's hoping for a fair and balanced outcome,
00:22but he says EU standards on food are not up for negotiation.
00:26Commissioner Sefcovic, EU Commissioner for Trade,
00:30thank you very much for joining us on the Europe Conversation.
00:33Thank you very much for the invitation.
00:34So we've been talking about Brexit for years,
00:37and there's always been a lot of rancour around the EU and the UK moving apart.
00:42But earlier this week, we saw a tiny movement towards each other.
00:46I mean, was that sort of a victory for you after all your years of turmoil?
00:51I think we really made a very important step forward,
00:55and we are opening really the new chapter in the EU-UK relations,
00:59and we clearly covered lots of ground also in the new areas
01:02where we were to cooperate much more and much more closely.
01:04But obviously you wouldn't have been surprised at some of the messaging
01:07in some of the UK press saying that Keir Starmer was stitched up like a kipper
01:11and this was a surrender summit.
01:13Did you get guarantees that a further government in five years' time or so in the UK,
01:18a Tory government, couldn't break the deal made from the UK and the EU?
01:23I think that they would do what is the best for the people.
01:28And I believe that the agreements we have reached today are the best for the UK citizens,
01:35the best for the EU, because we are eternal neighbours,
01:38we are the biggest trading partners, and we are closest to the lies.
01:43So if we want to restore the bridge building among the young people between the EU and the UK,
01:50if we want to make it easier for the farmers, for the fishers through the SPS agreement,
01:55and if we want to make it even better for the people from Northern Ireland,
01:59I think these are all very important messages,
02:02and I hope that also the people in the UK would see it like that,
02:06and the practical results and practical implementation of the agreements will just prove that.
02:09Getting back to, let's say, the EU and the US negotiations,
02:12nobody will forget where they were on April 2nd in the Rose Garden
02:15when the Trump administration applied huge tariffs to countries all across the world,
02:20including an island of penguins, as well as 20% tariffs on the European Union.
02:24But there is a 90-day pause on that for negotiations.
02:28That's coming up soon, in about a month and a half.
02:30Tell us where the negotiations are.
02:32I spent quite some time with my both interlocutors,
02:36with Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Lutnik, or U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Greer,
02:42and I have to say that we are almost in permanent touch.
02:46We are talking over the phone.
02:48We are communicating via all possible channels,
02:52and we are preparing for another round.
02:55We are ready to have technical discussions now on, I would say, the scoping process we just completed.
03:02Is that new, though, Commissioner?
03:04Is that a decision in recent days, that you've actually moved to a new, raised position,
03:08now that you're actually talking much more specific?
03:11Yeah, I think we are now on much more specific discussions.
03:14Of course, what is very important for us is that the deal,
03:18which I believe we will reach in the end, is fair and it's balanced.
03:23Because I think this was a very, very clear message,
03:26which I got when we've been debating this issue on the level of the trade ministers of the European Union.
03:32We, as the biggest trading partner of the United States,
03:37clearly deserve the equal treatment, fair treatment,
03:39and this is what we are aiming in the deal with the U.S.
03:42So what we proposed was several areas where we believe that we can achieve much more
03:46if we were jointly, you know, be it energy security,
03:50be it dependencies in the critical minerals,
03:53or be it the whole area of the digital cooperation.
03:57Because, as we know, the United States said 0% tariffs is a nice start,
04:00but we want greater access to your markets when it comes to agriculture.
04:03Is that a red line for the Commission,
04:05that it won't reduce scientific-based standards when it comes to agriculture production?
04:09I think we've been quite clear that we clearly would preserve our regulatory autonomy.
04:17And if I follow a little bit the discussion in the United States of America,
04:22I mean, there is also lots of talk about, you know, having healthier food,
04:28what should be, you know, the composition of the food processing, and so on and so forth.
04:33And I think we already had this discussion in Europe,
04:36and we are very proud of our health and safety standards if it comes to food,
04:41if it comes to agri-food production, we are going clearly to stick to them.
04:45So that's not going to happen, because that's something that they are being pushed for.
04:48They keep saying they don't take our meat, they don't take our agriculture products.
04:51Are you going to be able to change that in any way?
04:53It's not a 100% correct statement, because we take their products
04:58if they respect the health standards of the European Union.
05:02And as far as I'm following the discussions, in the U.S.,
05:06they're also kind of pointing into that direction to have healthier food, less chemicals,
05:12you know, more focus on the organic production,
05:15and all these things which already, I mean, we discussed and agreed upon in the EU.
05:20So everything depends on the standards.
05:22We respect American standards.
05:24We, of course, ask the Americans to respect the European standards.
05:26So that's not up for negotiation standards?
05:28I think if it comes to health and safety issues, I mean, clearly these are not up for negotiations.
05:34The other issue that they have is the VAT is a form of collecting tax.
05:37They say it's a non-tariff cheating.
05:40They don't really get that.
05:41Obviously, they pick up taxes in other ways, but VAT is a problem.
05:45Is that something? Is that a red line also for the EU?
05:47I think that it's not realistic to expect that now the 27 member states would change their budgetary procedures,
05:55because for us the VAT is a very important source of revenue for the government.
06:01And we, of course, spent quite a lot of time in explaining that the VAT is non-discriminatory,
06:07that it's levied on everyone, on European producers, on American producers, on Asian, on African producers.
06:13And on top of it, I think it's like more than 150 countries around the globe is using the VAT tax.
06:22Do they agree with that, though?
06:23Because you haven't yet met the senior trade secretary, Peter Navarro.
06:28So Peter Navarro, I understand, is playing a very important role as advisor to President Trump.
06:34My two interlocutors are Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Havard Latnik, who has, I would say, huge authority over the issue of trade.
06:42And then, of course, the U.S. trade representative, Ambassador Greer.
06:46So these are my two principal interlocutors.
06:48We are always happy to talk to also to Mr. Navarro if there will be availability.
06:53And you talked about the tech industry and how you could engage with the tech industry in the United States.
07:00That's something we've heard for quite some time.
07:02They would like to weaken the regulatory standards of the Digital Service Act and the Digital Markets Act.
07:08I mean, is that something that the EU may have to look at doing?
07:11Because the tech industry does really have a lot of influence in the White House.
07:15If we agree on the, let's say, basic principle that what is illegal offline should be illegal online.
07:23So then I think we have a common understanding that we should be able also to enforce this principle in practice.
07:30And this is what our digital legislation is about.
07:33I was also explaining to our American interlocutors that if it comes to, let's say, the dominant position of the market,
07:41it's very often the medium-sized and small American companies based in the EU who are pointing out to some of the, let's say, anomalies on the markets.
07:50And this is what we are discussing with the big tech.
07:53But as I said, we are always ready to debate all these issues in a friendly manner with the U.S.
07:59We, as you know, we go through quite an important process of simplification on parts of our legislation.
08:06But I think that for the big tech of the U.S., we are a very important market.
08:12For some of them, we have more subscribers here in Europe than in the U.S.
08:16I understand that it's somewhere between 30 to 50 percent of the revenue they are generating in Europe.
08:25So it's only logical.
08:27Okay.
08:27So the other issue is making up the 15 billion euro deficit in trade of goods that the U.S. and the EU have.
08:35And the idea being to buy more from America, what areas would you look at?
08:39How would you get consumers to buy more?
08:41And how would it look like the EU could buy more from the United States to, I suppose, fill that gap?
08:46I think that first and foremost, there's clearly the huge potential.
08:50And I would say on the both sides, because, I mean, we have also lots of products which are totally indispensable for the United States of America.
09:01And we also recognize the fact that if you take into account trade in goods and services, so the overall deficit is a little bit more than 50 billion euros.
09:11We have difference of opinion on that figure, but I think if you take into account internationally recognized category, trade in goods and services, so it's 50 billion, which I think, comparing to 1.6 trillion of euros, it's really a small sum of money.
09:26And we should be able to solve that.
09:27So coming to the concrete categories, if it comes to energy security, I was responsible for the common purchase of gas, where the U.S. LNG was playing a crucial role.
09:38I know that our farmers are in need of soybean support.
09:44I know that we want to build a robust AI infrastructure in Europe.
09:52And you simply need these high-quality AI chips, which also, and it runs into the billions and billions.
09:58And the U.K. just finished its trade negotiation with the U.S., but has accepted a 10% tariff baseline.
10:04Is that something that you think the EU might have to concede in order to get past this?
10:08Because as we know, we're coming up to the end of the 90 days, and there hasn't been sort of an end to the negotiations yet.
10:15What was a very clear message I got from our trade ministers was that they insist on having a balanced deal with the U.S.
10:24So, of course, we are ready to negotiate with our American partners.
10:29We would look for the balanced deal.
10:32Our U.K. partners, they concluded the negotiations.
10:39Of course, there is a lot what is in the paper.
10:42There is a lot which still have to be worked out because it was, I think, a very important framework agreement with a lot of things to be done in the future.
10:52But you couldn't accept 10% tariffs, though, could you?
10:55I mean, what we want is a symmetrical, fair deal, and this is what we'll be pushing for.
11:00Okay. Because the countermeasures, of course, that the EU has ready to go if the negotiations fail, I mean, there's things like whiskey and bourbon are on them.
11:08A lot of countries in negotiation to make sure that wasn't on the list.
11:11Are you concerned about the implications of moving forward after 90 days without an end to the negotiations?
11:16If you look at the measures, which some of them are already imposed by the U.S., we are already paying 10% tariffs, we are already paying 25% tariffs for steel, we are already paying 25% for cars.
11:30And we really believe that this is simply not fair.
11:33So we want to resolve it through the negotiated solutions.
11:38But, of course, we are also preparing alternatively, we would have to protect the European jobs and European companies.
11:45And, therefore, we started the consultations on eventual rebalancing measures.
11:50Okay. Commissioner Shefsevich, thank you very much for joining us on the Europe Conversation.
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