Europe got tough with Trump, but it needs the U.S. as much as ever

European capitals closed ranks to push back against President Trump’s bid to control Greenland, but the Continent’s dependence on the U.S. for security, exports and technology means decoupling from its ally isn’t an option.

- Tom Fairless & Kim Mackrael

U.S. President Donald Trump. The EU has sought to diversify its trading partners in an effort to curb its reliance on the U.S.

(AP)

The reliance puts Europe at a disadvantage in a world of great power competition and weakens its hand in negotiations with Trump on everything from trade to Greenland and Ukraine.

For decades, Europe has relied on the U.S. for security, Russia for energy and China as a growing export market. Now it depends on the U.S. for all three.

Today, the European Union sends about one-fifth of its exports to America, its biggest international market, and relies on the U.S. for about one-quarter of its natural-gas supplies. The largest U.S. military base in Germany has more soldiers than the biggest German base there.

It isn’t just energy, trade and security.

Europe relies on U.S. technology and financial services. Visa and Mastercard control around two-thirds of card spending in Europe. Around 80% of German companies say they rely on U.S. digital technologies and services, according to a recent survey by the Berlin-based digital lobby group Bitkom.

“These dependencies around technology, around security, around finance and the dollar, that’s the glue that’s now keeping together the Western bloc,” said Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics in London. “What's become clear is that the U.S. has enormous leverage over that relationship.”