Union calls on Commission to reassess EU public contracts amid trade war

A European trade union federation representing 7 million service workers across the continent has called for European institutions to reassess public procurement contracts awarded to US companies, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), in light of the ongoing trade spat between the two sides of the Atlantic.

With reports that US President Donald Trump is set to announce a comprehensive set of 'reciprocal' tariffs on EU exports on 2 April, UNI Europa “believes it is imperative that Europe take decisive steps to safeguard its economic sovereignty, democratic values and workers’ rights,” according to the statement published on Wednesday.

On 1 April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hinted at a “strong plan to retaliate”, which might target the US surplus in services by, among other measures, excluding US tech companies from public procurement contracts. 

AWS has won several public contracts with various Commission departments but is also a key contractor for the US government, including intelligence agencies.

“Given the emerging adversarial dynamics in transatlantic trade relations, allowing AWS to host critical European data poses an unacceptable risk,” UNI claims.

In recent months, there have been closer links between Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the administration of Republican President Donald Trump. Bezos, who also owns newspaper the Washington Post, has also restricted opinions at the paper in a move praised by Trump.

According to UNI, the EU institutions should “conduct a thorough review of existing and planned public contracts with AWS,” and “explore the use of existing regulatory tools to ensure that public funds are not awarded to companies undermining core EU values.”

Amazon did not comment on the specific claims, but said in a recent blogpost that it contributes to Europe's competitiveness, "through significant investments and unwavering commitment to serving our European customers."

The European Commission did not comment.