BRUSSELS, October 6 — The story begins with a quiet but urgent appeal from two of Europe’s most powerful leaders. On October 5, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron sent a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging the EU to adopt tougher measures against unfair trade practices by other states. What unfolded was a diplomatic move framed as a non-binding ‘non-paper’ in EU circles, yet it carried clear weight.
The letter did not name specific countries but was widely interpreted as targeting China and the United States due to growing concerns over trade imbalances and market distortions that undermine fair competition for European industries. At its heart, the appeal argued that existing EU instruments are insufficient to address systemic practices that distort global markets.
Merz and Macron proposed two new measures: first, to ensure supply chain diversification and reduce over-reliance on individual suppliers; second, to grant the European Commission the authority to exclude a country from the EU single market on an expedited basis in exceptional circumstances where third countries deliberately undermine level playing field conditions through political or economic means.
Under the proposed mechanism, the Commission could act independently, but member states could block the decision with a qualified majority vote — defined as at least 55% of member states representing at least 65% of the EU’s total population. The letter highlighted the EU’s growing trade deficit with China, which amounted to approximately €360 billion (about $400 billion) in 2025 according to EU figures, though Chinese officials reported a lower figure of $292 billion.
The EU is particularly dependent on China for raw materials such as rare earths and increasingly reliant on both China and the US for high-tech imports and services, especially in computing and AI sectors. This dependency, the leaders said, erodes Europe’s position as a sovereign industrial producer and innovator amid rising ‘geoeconomic risks’. The appeal came just days before EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic was scheduled to visit Beijing for talks ahead of an EU leaders’ summit on October 15–16, 2026.
Sefcovic had previously expressed hope for tangible results on EU-China trade by October, though Beijing warned it might retaliate if it perceived EU actions as threatening. For those involved, the stakes are clear: rebalancing trade relations without triggering retaliation, while strengthening Europe’s ability to act decisively in an era of economic statecraft. What follows now is the Commission’s response and whether member states will back a stronger enforcement tool — one that could reshape how the EU defends its economic sovereignty in the years ahead.
