EU: Trump forces priorities review for 2026

Brussels – Industry and competitiveness, trade, sustainability, ocean protection, and security. The European Union’s priorities for 2026, which have just been defined, are already being called into question by the actions of the United States, forcing a rethink of an agenda that is not exactly straightforward to begin with. The European Parliament’s research and analysis centre has developed  a working document for MEPs that covers 10 issues considered priorities for the new year. Specifically, these are the next long-term budget (MFF 2028–2034), Ukraine’s integration into the EU, defence, EU-China relations, the impact of artificial intelligence on the web, the potential of start-ups, irregular immigration, climate policy, action for the oceans, and lessons learned from the recovery programme financed by the Recovery Fund. 

Of these ten issues placed at the top of the twelve-star agenda, there are at least two that already appear to have been called into question by the Trump administration’s actions: climate policy and start-ups. The overthrow of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela,  with the announcement of the appropriation of Venezuelan crude oil reserves, opens up entirely new scenarios that point towards fossil fuel-based production, and therefore away from the renewable and clean sources that the EU is focusing on. This change of pace risks imposing an industrial rethink, and therefore also at the level of start-ups or newly launched businesses. 

Linked to the theme of sustainability is that of the oceans. With Trump’s America disengaged and uninterested in environmental issues, global agreements on the subject could “crash and burn” precisely because of US dissent, which is jealous of its own web industry and eager to dismantle European laws on digital services and the digital market. This means that, even on the issue of “the impact of artificial intelligence on the web”, American influence could be felt, and the EU could be forced into a 2026 marked by pressure, tension, and friction. 

https://www.eunews.it/en/2025/02/07/tariffs-climate-international-law-trump-shapes-the-european-parliaments-agenda/ 

But defence and the Ukrainian issue are also already being affected by what the United States intends to do. US expansionist ambitions in Greenland, accompanying the renewed imperialist doctrine of the stars and stripes, risk forcing a rethink of European choices and policies. Just a year ago, NATO Secretary General Marc  Rutte argued that Washington could be trusted, but today, a year later, this no longer seems to be the case. European defence depends on the ability to defend itself from a partner that is no longer such, even though it continues to be considered as such. 

As for Ukraine’s prospects of joining the EU, here too much will depend on a peace process firmly in American hands. Despite the frenetic European activism, it is Washington that is pulling the strings in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and only a peace that currently seems a long way off can pave the way for Kyiv’s eventual accession. Provided that this condition is included in any peace treaty. 

Trade and relations with China: in increasingly complex Euro-Atlantic relations, EU policy towards Beijing could be affected. How? That remains to be seen, of course. The tariff agreement signed by the European Commission with the Trump administration is considered advantageous compared to the treatment accorded to other global players. Because of this “favourable” treatment, there is a risk of being tempted to make choices that do not upset Washington, so as not to lose its favour. However, Brussels is looking to Beijing for the reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).