Most “Buy European” initiatives that I’ve seen are quite uncoordinated and disorganised. It’s very grassroots. That’s not bad, but maybe we could do better.
What do I mean by better? Well, imagine if there were ads in public transport, flyers in your mailbox, stickers, t-shirts and other merch, awareness campaigns on social media, a common database for European alternatives, outreach to businesses, partners, and even political affiliations.
I made a sticker, but I’m not a graphic designer. I asked about translations, but we don’t have a place to really store that information. We don’t have some kind of platform where we can organise stuff without the algorithm just hiding it after a day.
When a US company starts selling stuff in Europe, many people will know about it because of these things. It’ll generate chatter and translate into action or purchases. This doesn’t just count for products, but political campaigns, and so on. There’s a directed, concerted effort, which we lack and probably waiting on some company or politician to get their lips off of a big tech donor’s buttcheek will take a while.
Most people I know are barely aware of the Buy European movement. It’s either not translated or it’s in media they don’t follow, but getting a flyer in your mail, seeing an ad on TV or while standing at a bus station, hearing a politician or influencer talk about it, will make people more aware.
Is this something we want? If so, how can we do it? Do we start an NGO? Reach out to a political party like Volt Europa (Although they don’t seem to be on the fediverse)
American here. Personally, I disagree with the buy European movement. Getting Americans to buy American is exactly what Trump is doing by establishing tariffs. And if Europe was serious about buying European, then they would establish their own tariffs for non-EU countries. I would much rather see a buy “local” movement that is anti-corp or anti-America and more focusing on building up your local communities.
This post isn’t about what Europe as a whole can and should do, but what we as citizens can do with the power we wield. We can’t impose tariffs or whatever else, but we can start an NGO, we can organise to send letters to politicians (whatever little that may do), we can pay to spray ads of “buy european” all over the place, we, European citizens, can become serious. We don’t have to wait on politicians and bankers and those in power to make a move.
Sure, exclude the tariffs then. How is your mindset different than Trump’s? How is Buy European not the same nationalism? Are you going to boycott services and products from Canada, Central and South America, UK, Africa, etc?