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French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz have vowed to uphold close Franco-German cooperation to ensure European sovereignty in key industrial areas as the new U.S. administration under president Donald Trump has set out on a confrontational course towards the EU. 鈥淎fter a new government has been sworn in in the United States of America, it is ever more important that the Franco-German tandem completely fulfils its role for a consolidated Europe,鈥� Macron said during a visit of the German chancellor to France鈥檚 capital Paris on the anniversary of the two countries' 1963 脡lis茅e Treaty for close cooperation.

The French president said that while cultivating good transatlantic relations remained an important aspect for Europe, 鈥渢he priority of Europeans today should be Europe鈥� to strengthen competitiveness, prosperity and security as well as defending its values and political institutions. Referring to penned by former Italian European Central Bank head Mario Draghi in 2024, Macron said the EU needs to make sure it does not fall behind.

鈥淲e need to support certain critical sectors, including the automotive industry, the steel industry, the chemicals industry, and urgently need to free up investments for them鈥�. The EU would need to ramp up spending on energy, defence, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space travel, and other areas, the French leader argued, warning against an international environment that is becoming 鈥渕ore brutal and disinhibited.鈥澛燤acron said European defence, including the support for Ukraine against Russia鈥檚 invasion, would have to be rethought and revalued, adding that this would be a key aspect at several meetings within the EU and beyond in the coming months.

Germany's chancellor Scholz said the increasing popularity of far-right politicians in the Western world pose a danger to Europe by focusing on differences and undermining unity. 鈥淣ow we have to deal with a new U.S. administration. It鈥檚 already clear that president Trump will be a challenge,鈥� Scholz argued. The chancellor stressed the 鈥渓ong history of friendship and partnership鈥� between Europe and the U.S. and said European partners would now closely examine the raft of decisions Trump made since taking office at the beginning of the week, many of which directly target Europe.

鈥淥ur position is clear,鈥� Scholz said: 鈥淓urope will not duck away and hide but stay a constructive and self-confident partner.鈥� Franco-German cooperation would remain a cornerstone in this regard, he added. Scholz said he and the French president agreed on several measures that should be immediately decided in the EU: Abolishing fines for carmakers that invest in e-mobility but currently struggle to sell enough vehicles to leave them more funds for further developing the technology; protecting steel production in Europe to strengthen competitiveness and security; and reducing bureaucracy for companies by delaying the next step in Europe鈥檚 sustainability reporting schedule by two years.

The European Commission is set to present a strategy to strengthen the EU's industrial competitiveness and help it decarbonise, the Clean Industrial Deal, by late February. The return of Trump to the White House was followed by a wide range of executive orders that the president signed on its first day in office. They included a withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, a commitment to expanding fossil fuel extraction, and a temporary halt to new wind power development. Amongst other things, the rightwing populist president also threatened to impose heavy tariffs on Europe, a close ally in trading and security policy, unless the region buys more fossil fuels from the U.S., a measure that has been met with loud criticism from across Europe.