PARIS: French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday criticised the trade agreement struck between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump, calling it a “dark day” for Europe.
The deal, announced on Sunday, has triggered political backlash in France, with ministers and lawmakers from across the political spectrum denouncing it as unbalanced and a sign of European weakness.
Bayrou, posting on social media platform X, wrote: “It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to uphold their values and defend their interests, resigns itself to submission.”
Accord Van der Leyen-Trump : c'est un jour sombre que celui où une alliance de peuples libres, rassemblés pour affirmer leurs valeurs et défendre leurs intérêts, se résout à la soumission.
— François Bayrou (@bayrou) July 28, 2025
The EU-US trade agreement, reached on Sunday in Scotland, establishes a baseline tariff of 15 percent on EU exports to the US.
In return, the European Union has committed to invest $600 billion in the United States and to purchase $750 billion worth of American energy and military equipment.
The deal effectively ends months of uncertainty that began when Washington threatened to impose 30 percent tariffs on European goods.
Despite initial optimism in global financial markets—where stocks rose on hopes of averting a transatlantic trade war—political leaders in France voiced alarm at what they perceive as a lopsided deal.
European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad also took to X, describing the agreement as “unbalanced.”
He acknowledged that while the deal may bring temporary stability for economic actors facing rising US tariffs, it falls short of protecting long-term European interests.
France’s Industry Minister Marc Ferracci told RTL radio that additional negotiations would be necessary.
“This is not the end of the story,” he said, adding that more efforts were needed to restore balance to the EU’s trade relations with the US.
Opposition leaders were even more critical. Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, accused von der Leyen of overseeing a “commercial surrender of Europe,” to the detriment of the bloc’s exporters, farmers, and manufacturers.
His party colleague Marine Le Pen called the agreement “a political, economic and moral fiasco.”
Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, president of the National Assembly’s European Affairs Committee and a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, labelled the deal “a signal of weakness.”
He warned that the EU’s perceived capitulation would embolden competitors and undermine Europe’s position on the global stage.
Philippe Latombe, a lawmaker from Bayrou’s Democratic Movement party, said on X that while the agreement may have avoided a trade war, it did so at the cost of “culpable subservience” and the “sacrifice of entire sectors of our sovereignty.” He added: “It’s a bad deal—except for Trump.”
