19th March 2026, Brussels – Today, the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade voted on updated terms for the continuation of the EU-US trade deal agreed in July 2025.
The text introduces a “sunrise clause” under which the agreement takes effect only if the US fulfils its obligations, a “sunset clause” ending EU tariff relief in March 2028 unless the deal is renewed, and a suspension mechanism if the US breaches the terms of the agreement.
CAN Europe warns that these provisions fail to address the deeper imbalances of the deal, including the risk of locking Europe into greater fossil fuel dependence by tripling imports of fracked US LNG. The agreement will increase the EU’s dangerous reliance on a trading partner that is illegally using executive power to unilaterally impose global tariffs, as confirmed by last month’s US Supreme Court ruling.
Pursuing this deal will undermine EU energy security and further strengthen US energy dominance, enabling interference in EU democratic policymaking – as has been seen with pressure to weaken environmental legislation such as the EU Methane Regulation.
Esther Bollendorff, Senior Gas Policy Coordinator at CAN Europe, said:
“The EU-US Trade Deal serves US interests only, it deepens Europe’s fossil fuel dependency, and is detrimental for its energy security, energy prices and climate goals.
As the EU moves to phase out Russian gas, it risks trading one dependency for another – locking itself into US LNG, which already accounts for nearly 60% of LNG imports.
The war in Iran and conflict in the wider region – alongside the devastating human suffering, loss of life, and destruction – exposes once more how Europe’s dependence on fossil energy drives instability and energy vulnerability. Tripling fossil fuel imports from the US would only deepen these risks, increasing the EU’s exposure to energy weaponisation.
Today’s vote signals that the EU is falling to US trade imperatives over its own energy security, which depends on renewables, energy savings, and electrification.”
In addition to the increasing US fossil imports, a wide range of the EU’s safeguards protecting its citizens are on the line. Rather than strengthening strategic autonomy, the agreement risks entrenching corporate influence and weakening Europe’s regulatory independence.
Audrey Changoe, Trade and Investment Policy Coordinator at CAN Europe, said:
“This is far from a balanced compromise. The deal largely reflects Washington’s aggressive push against Europe’s economic security and sovereignty, including threats to annex Greenland and trade embargoes against Spain. It risks fuelling deregulation of hard-won European safeguards, such as the EU’s deforestation law, and putting corporate interests ahead of citizens’ rights.
Accepting unequal terms sends a wrong signal far beyond this deal and undermines the rules-based trade order the EU claims to defend.”
– ENDS –
For more information and media requests:
Alessia Luzzati, Communications Officer, CAN Europe alessia.luzzati@caneurope.org.