Europe is the world’s largest market. It’s the market that offers the greatest safety for its citizens. There are standards for testing food, medicines, products, vehicles and so on.
Deregulation is on Trump’s agenda at the request of billionaires like Elon Musk, the Sackler family and Peter Thiel. They are calling for a return to the “gilded age” (1870-1890), during which companies were not burdened by social, environmental or hygienic standards. But food was produced on site, which is no longer the case today. The consequences would be worse. It’s the age of the “Robber Barons”. Incommensurable fortunes were made. They made the laws and paid no taxes, to the detriment of consumer safety, workers and the environment.
There are products that aren’t sold because they don’t meet these standards. These people consider it a business opportunity gone.
If there’s no need to test or buy quality products, it drives prices down and wins markets. This drags everyone down and transfers the costs to society: the cost of the sick, environmental pollution, accident compensation, etc.
The USA will promise either sanctions or benefits to certain European countries in order to divide Europe and force it to lower its standards. For example, Perrier would not be troubled by health standards, and could sell water unfit for human consumption. For example, toys could be sold even if they contain toxic products. For example, GMOs would be on the European market.
In addition, the agri-business sector is exerting pressure within Europe to abandon environmental and social standards. For example, they would like to reuse dangerous plant protection products, or bleach chickens raised in appalling conditions.
Some European standards have been hijacked for individual interests, and with excessive administration. For example, the format of vegetables is designed to favor manufacturers. As a result, some would like to undo the standards. But that’s forgetting that the majority of these standards protect us against poisoning, fires, accidents and so on. Not all standards are bad. People should be able to exert pressure to improve standards and remove those that only serve individual interests. They are not guaranteed.
« Les bénéfices de l’Union européenne sont systématiquement sous-estimés, parce qu’ils sont considérés comme acquis » – Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2024/12/26/les-benefices-de-l-union-europeenne-sont-systematiquement-sous-estimes-parce-qu-ils-sont-consideres-comme-acquis_6468688_3232.html
With the EU-Mercosur agreement, products from Brazil or Argentina can enter the European market without being subject to standards. Europe is already under internal pressure to lower these standards.
If standards disappear, there’ll be a lot of sickness and accidents. Today’s societies are complex. Only a few ultra-rich people are going to make huge short-term profits, to the detriment of society as a whole. We need to be able to trust medicines, food and means of transport. For example, meningitis has resurfaced because some people had doubts about the vaccine. Another example: the Boeing 737 max was grounded because it was unreliable. What would happen if it was allowed to fly again? Chinese, Russian and Indian products, among others, of low quality or potentially dangerous, would arrive on the European market.
Wasteful use of public money is another issue. If those who receive public money are not held to the same standards, many things go wrong. For example, Space X was not subject to the same standards as NASA. Many rockets exploded because the materials used were not suitable, not up to standard but cheaper. NASA couldn’t have afforded so many failures. It’s a monstrous waste of public money (these tests were financed by the U.S. government), an enormous source of pollution and unfair competition with NASA.
If one European political leader has a political interest in lowering standards, this weakens the whole of Europe, which is less able to impose its conditions. Selfishly following the Americans does not make for a strong Europe.
Gatsby le Magnifique – F. Scott Fitzgerald – Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatsby_le_Magnifique
The Current War (2017) – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140507/?ref_=ext_shr_em
John Le Carré’s Gardener’s Constancy , a well-researched novel about pharmaceutical trials in Africa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constant_Gardener
Translated with Deepl
