Greenland calls for ‘Nato framework’ protection from Trump’s threats

Good morning. Today, Greenland calls for Nato to step up and guarantee its protection, Brussels assesses its own efforts to improve the single market (it’s not pretty reading) and capitals are arguing over how Ukraine can spend its €90bn EU loan.

Paging the alliance

Greenland has insisted that its defence should be organised through Nato, not Denmark or Donald Trump’s US, writes Richard Milne.

Context: President Trump’s insistence on taking over Greenland from Denmark has unleashed an existential crisis for Nato. Danish premier Mette Frederiksen has argued the western defence alliance cannot survive a military attack by one Nato country on another.

Greenlandic politicians have long conceded that the island of just 57,000 would need a security guarantor after the independence that they long for, with current ruler Denmark or the US the obvious choices.

But Greenland’s coalition government, ahead of high-profile talks with US secretary of state Marco Rubio, said yesterday that it would “intensify its efforts to ensure that the defence of Greenland is carried out within the Nato framework”.

It added that it believed Greenland would remain a member of Nato “now and in the future”, and would aim with Denmark “to ensure that dialogue on Greenland’s defence and its development takes place within Nato co-operation”.

Various Nato countries including the UK, Germany and France have suggested stationing troops in Greenland, or a stronger Arctic presence.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte broke his silence on the matter yesterday, but still failed to address the split between the two Nato members. “All allies agree on the importance of the Arctic and Arctic security,” Rutte said.

Disintegration

The integration of the EU’s single market is failing on several fronts, according to a new European Commission report, which finds that Brussels’ simplification drive is a rare bright spot, write Alice Hancock and Barbara Moens.

Context: the EU’s single market was established in 1993 to increase the flow of goods and services. The Commission estimates that it has added 3 to 4 per cent to EU GDP, but deeper integration is often opposed by member states who favour their national rules.

Last year, the Commission started rolling out so-called “omnibus” laws in response to complaints from industry about red tape. So far, there have been 10 “omnibuses” to cut back bureaucracy in areas such as environment, agriculture, finance and defence.

According to a draft report from the Commission, seen by the FT, these efforts have so far cut €14.3bn in compliance costs for companies.

The aim is to save €37.5bn overall, with the Commission flagging public procurement rules as a notable area in need of more simplification. This “would greatly help over 44,000 public authorities in the EU purchasing services, works and supplies, as well as companies bidding for these tenders, worth around 15 per cent of GDP”, it said.

Otherwise, the diagnosis is bleak. The Commission found that only six out of 30 indicators were showing progress. Others, such as the level of private investment, had shown a “clear deterioration”.

Chart du jour: Bitter awakening

China has become the global powerhouse in renewable energy technologies such as polysilicon, the key ingredient in solar panels. How did western countries lose out?

Strings attached

European countries are fighting over the details of a €90bn loan for Ukraine, including who should pay the interest and whether Kyiv should spend the money in Europe, writes Paola Tamma.

Context: Last year, EU leaders agreed to raise €90bn on the markets to support Kyiv’s fight against Russia, after failing to agree on a “reparations loan” backed by Russian state assets.

The details of that plan are set to be presented by the Commission tomorrow.

The “reparations loan” proposal, now repurposed for the €90bn scheme, foresaw Ukraine using the money to buy weapons in Europe, and only turn to the US or other countries if it could not meet its needs — and even then, only under certain conditions.

But countries including Germany and the Netherlands argue those conditions are too strict, and point out there are no European alternatives for some items like the US Patriot missile system.

“Germany does not support proposals to limit third country procurement to certain products and is concerned this would put excessive restrictions on Ukraine to defend itself,” Berlin wrote in a paper seen by the FT. The Hague similarly argues that €15bn of the loan should be reserved for “Ukraine’s most urgent military needs” that cannot be met in-house, such as “deep strike capabilities and air and missile defence”.

The two countries also argue that the interest costs — estimated at €20bn over the next decade — should be covered by the EU’s common budget, not by national budgets, as currently foreseen.

What to watch today

1. German defence minister Boris Pistorius hosts EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Berlin.

2. EU Council president António Costa meets Belgium’s King Philippe.

Now read these

• Heavy hit: European car parts suppliers have announced more than 100,000 job losses in the past two years.

• Corruption scandal: A top aide to the Cypriot president has resigned, after a video emerged showing him discussing donations in return for political access.

• Rivers in the sky: European scientists are set to begin their first aerial investigation of “atmospheric rivers” that can cause serious flooding.