Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof will not attend Monday’s informal meeting of European leaders in Brussels because he is still suffering from flu.

Schoof cannot be replaced by one of the four deputy prime ministers under EU rules, so the Netherlands will be represented by Luxembourg’s Premier Luc Frieden instead.

The meeting has been organised for an informal exchange of views to discuss ways of bolstering Europe’s defences, but US president Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on the EU is also likely to be on the agenda

It is the first time European leaders will have met since Trump was sworn in.

This weekend, Trump said he is imposing trade tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China and would do the same for the EU, which, he said, “has really taken advantage of us.”

“I would not say there is a timeline, but it is definitely going to happen very soon,” he told Bloomberg TV.

Last month, Schoof told broadcaster CNN that Europe needs to have a backbone and stand up to Trump.

Speaking on the fringes of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Schoof said that Europe does not need to confront the US over import tariffs.

“We have to realise we have a big consumer market, great technology, and industry. We want to make the EU more competitive and a strong partner for the US,” he said.

Asked if the EU needed to show backbone and stand up to Trump, Schoof said that the EU is not going to play the victim. “We have to act from a position of strength,” he said. “We need to realise this. This is our position and that, I think, will be Europe’s position as well.”

Exports to the US account for only between 4% and 5% of Dutch exports, so the impact of the import tariffs will be extremely limited, the government’s macroeconomic think tank CPB said in November.

The impact on some manufacturing sectors, such as machinery and electronics, will be greater, but Dutch firms active in telecommunications, aviation, and machinery leasing will benefit from the plan, the agency said.