The Guardian |Patrick Wintour:Europe is prepared to introduce measures to nullify the effect of Donald Trump imposing sanctions on any non-US firm that continues to do business with Iran, the French government has said.
The warning from the French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, suggests Trumps proposals to corral Europe into joiningUS foreign policyon Iran may lead to a severe backlash by EU firms and politicians, especially advocates of a stronger independent European foreign policy.
We have to work among ourselves in Europe to defend our European economic sovereignty, Le Maire said, adding that Europe could use the same instruments as the US to defend its interests. Speaking on Europe 1 he added: Do we want to be a vassal that obeys and jumps to attention?