We sit down with France's minister-delegate for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, to take stock of diplomacy around Ukraine and the US-EU standoff over trade tariffs. Haddad lived in the US and worked for top think tanks there, including the Atlantic Council and the Hudson Institute. He wrote a book entitled "Paradise Lost: Trump’s America and the end of European illusions" during the first Trump presidency. With that theme in mind, we also touch on European competitiveness, research and innovation.

Asked about the diplomatic prospects for reaching a breakthrough on Ukraine, Haddad says: "We've seen the strikes by Russia continue every day. Every day, horrific strikes against civilians, against infrastructure, against the Ukrainian military. And we’ve seen maximalist demands by Russia on demilitarisation and neutralisation. We Europeans share the objective of the United States, which is to find a solution to end this war and to have a long and lasting peace. That is in the interest of Ukrainians, of Europeans and of the United States. But now it's up to Russia to make up its mind, because it is continuing to renege on this."

Asked what form European security guarantees for Ukraine could take, Haddad explains: "This could be a deployment of contingents in key strategic points of Ukraine. Of course not fighting forces, not forces on the frontline, but reassurance forces like it is the case today in the Baltic states, in Poland or in Romania. It's fundamentally in our interest to have an independent, sovereign Ukraine that can continue, that can rebuild, that can continue its European orientation."

Turning to the US tariffs imposed on the EU, which he calls "completely unjustified", Haddad states: "We want to be able to find a solution that's in the interest of everyone and to be able to de-escalate. Right now, we have a situation where you have [a] 10 percent tariff on European goods, and 25 percent on steel and aluminum. This cannot be accepted as a sort of 'new normal' of the trade relationship. So let's have a negotiation. But we have the instruments at the European level to defend our interests. The EU is not weak, and President Trump is the first one to say so."

Haddad elaborates: "Beyond just this trade dimension, what's the question that's being asked right now? It's the question of European competitiveness. The best way to react to this is to focus on ourselves, to focus on supporting our innovators, our companies, our SMEs, to make sure that the €300 billion in European savings that cross the Atlantic every year to fund US stock markets, stay in Europe. That they stay in Europe to support companies in AI and quantum [technologies], in the green transition and in defence. Those companies need funding and capital. They want to be able to expand. But too often they still see too many impediments in trying to develop all across Europe, because you still have different regulatory standards."

"There are so many opportunities for Europe if we make the right decision, if we take this moment as a historical turning point, to focus once again on our reforms and our investment," Haddad concludes.

Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Luke Brown and Isabelle Romero

Trade tariffs can't become the 'new normal': French minister-delegate Haddad

Talking Europe