Most respondents in the European Union’s largest member states believe that Brussels bowed to Washington in the recent tariff deal with U.S. president Donald Trump. They described the agreement as a “humiliation” that serves U.S. priorities far more than Europe’s, a new poll shows.
According to a Cluster17 survey for the European affairs platform Le Grand Continent, 77% of respondents said the agreement benefits the U.S. economy above all, while just 2% thought Europe would be the main beneficiary. The discontent was strongest in France, where 89% held this view, compared with 50% in Poland.
Across the five countries surveyed—together representing around 60% of the EU’s population—52% described the July agreement between Donald Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as humiliating.
The deal requires the EU to remove tariffs on all American industrial goods and grant preferential market access for a broad range of U.S. seafood and agricultural products. In return, most European exports to the U.S. will still face a baseline tariff of 15%. Members of the European Parliament have already made their concerns known.
Von der Leyen defended the agreement as “a major deal” that ensures “stability” and “predictability,” while avoiding Trump’s threatened 30% tariff on European goods. But critics argue the Commission conceded far more than Washington, effectively caving to pressure from the White House.
Public opinion appears to support that assessment. On average, three in four respondents said von der Leyen had defended European interests poorly. With her annual “state of the union” speech set for next week, 60% of those surveyed said they would welcome her resignation.
Despite the frustration, support for EU membership remains strong. Majorities ranging from 85% in Spain to 61% in France said their country should stay in the union. Still, more than a third of respondents warned that if the bloc fails to protect citizens from geopolitical risks, the possibility of leaving should at least be considered.
