Trading Places

New Alliances, Old Fault Lines: Europe Seeks Stability Amid Global Confusion

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Evodince GmbH
April 29, 2025

I spent a few hours this weekend reading an actual newspaper from a quiet corner coffee shop in Salzburg—a city that has lived through centuries of shifting alliances, usually marked by slow, deliberate change rather than sudden ruptures.

This week carries the air of one of those pivotal, quiet shifts. Well, except for yesterday’s massive blackout across Spain and Portugal that left millions without power for most of the day. That… that was sudden.

The UK and the EU are preparing to sign a declaration of “free and open trade” in the coming weeks—a move designed to project stability at a time when global markets are increasingly shaped by volatility and mixed messaging. Macron’s profile among European publications continues to rise as he positions France at the center of these discussions.

Meanwhile, businesses and government officials on both sides of the Atlantic work to interpret an increasingly complex landscape.

For example, in European markets this Tuesday morning, optimism over the White House announcing tariff relief on European auto parts wasn’t enough to offset Volvo’s missed profit guidance and Porsche’s dramatic slowdown (ironic, given the context)—both citing tariff pressures as a major headwind.

Today’s stories reflect how Europe is repositioning itself: waking up to new alliances, reinforcing old ones, and navigating a landscape where confusion, rather than consensus or momentum is, at least in the short term, in the driver’s seat.

Have a great rest of your week.

Leigh Fatzinger, Editor
Salzburg, Austria / 29 April 2025

From Ireland

After supply chains seized up during the pandemic and the flow of tech from Asia turned to a trickle, both the Biden administration and European Commission realized how vulnerable their industries were to global shocks. In response, both sides—separately—launched programs to encourage more local semiconductor manufacturing; though this was largely done through the promise of billions of euros of supports for the companies that promised to build new factories.

"The supply chain is just incredibly complex," says John Blake, general manager of MIDAS, the industry association for Microelectronics and Electronic Systems Design in Ireland. "Somebody spoke at our conference and tried to draw on a map to tell that supply story… and he basically had this spiderweb of lines across the globe.”

Trump tariffs threaten cloud price hike for European startups - Sifted (United Kingdom)- 29 April 2025

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A note on translations: We partner with DeepL to bring you accurate translations of news coverage from across Europe's non-English publications.

BRICS pokušava da popuni prazninu koju je ostavio G-20 dok besni Trampov trgovinski rat [The BRICS are trying to fill the void left by the G-20 as Trump's trade war rages on] - Biznis.rs (Serbia) - 28 April 2025 

When asked at a briefing last week about China's expectations from the meeting, a spokesman for its Treasury Department made no mention of the United States, but criticized those who "hold the big stick of tariffs, sabotage international justice and order, and increase global security risks." The spokesman also called for "closer cooperation" and "joint efforts" among the BRICS countries. [Translated from Serbian by DeepL.]

BRICS BACKGROUNDER

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) is positioning itself a global forum to address economic and political challenges linked to rapid changes in global trade. Recently, the BRICS has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, now representing about half of the world's population and 40% of global GDP.

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From Belgium

Britain and the European Union are set to sign a formal declaration committing to “free and open trade” in defiance of Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.

The draft UK-EU agreement, dated April 25, is one of several being drawn up ahead of a May 19 summit, which is seen as a key moment in resetting post-Brexit relations.

Officials are also negotiating UK-EU agreements on defense and security, fishing and energy, as well as a “common understanding” of which topics will be covered by intensive Brexit reset negotiations this year.

President Karis invites Trump to visit Estonia - Estonia Times (Estonia)- 28 April 2025
Von der Leyen and Trump have agreed to meet - EU - Ansa.IT (Italy) - 26 April 2025
Macron’s office rules out reviving EU-US free trade deal for now - Politico EU (Belgium) - 29 April 2025

📖 Read Friday's edition of Evodince: EU Trade – Evodince Media (Austria) – 26 April 2025

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