PARIS – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed optimism on Sunday that the European Union and the United States could reach a trade truce in the coming months to stop discrimination against European companies because of US subsidies.
Speaking at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a joint Franco-German cabinet meeting in Paris, Scholz said he was “confident” that the EU and the US would address the measures “within the first quarter of this year”. Can reach an agreement to do. Europe fears investment in key technologies will be diverted away from the continent under the US Inflation Reduction Act.
“My impression is that there is a greater understanding in America [of the concerns raised in the EU]said the chancellor.
Macron told reporters that he and Scholz supported efforts by the European Commission to negotiate an exemption from the US law to avoid discrimination against EU companies.
Fresh optimism came after the two leaders adopted a joint statement in which they called for a loosening of EU state aid rules to encourage home-grown green industries in response to the US law. The text said the EU needed “ambitious” measures to increase the bloc’s economic competitiveness, such as “state aid for simplified and streamlined procedures” that would allow more money to be pumped into strategic industries.
The joint statement also stressed the need to create “substantial funds”. But in a victory for Berlin, which has been reluctant to talk about new EU debt, the text says the bloc must first “make full use of the funds and financial instruments available.” The statement also included a specific reference to the need to create “solidarity measures”.
EU leaders will meet early next month to discuss Europe’s response to the inflation reduction act, including a Franco-German proposal to soften state aid rules.
The relationship between Scholz and Macron hit a low In recent months, the French president canceled a planned joint cabinet meeting in October over disagreements over energy, finance and defence. But the two leaders have since found common ground in responding to green subsidies in Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act. Macron said Paris and Berlin had worked in recent weeks to “synchronize” their approach to Europe.
“We need the greatest convergence ever to help Europe move forward,” he said.
But there was little convergence on how to respond to Ukraine’s repeated requests from Germany and France to deliver battle tanks, amid fears that a renewed Russian offensive could come in the spring.
Asked whether France would send Leclerc tanks to Ukraine, Macron said the request was being considered and the issue was to be worked out in the “coming days and weeks”.
Scholz sidestepped the question of whether Germany would send the Leopard 2 tanks, stressing that Berlin did not stop supporting Ukraine with arms deliveries and took its decisions in cooperation with its allies.
The Chancellor said, “We have to fear that this war will go on for a very long time.”
For Reconciliation, Past and Present
The German chancellor and his cabinet were in Paris on Sunday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty, which marked the reconciliation between France and Germany after World War II. The ceremony, first at the Sorbonne University and later at the Elysee Palace, was also a moment for the two leaders to put aside their recent disagreements.
Paris and Berlin have been at loggerheads in recent months not only over defense, energy and finance policy, but also over Scholz’s controversial €200 billion package for energy price relief, which was announced last fall without involving the French government. Was. these tensions resulted in Macron rebukes Scholz By canceling, in an unprecedented manner, a planned press conference with the German leader in October.
At the Sorbonne, Scholz acknowledged that relations between the two countries were often turbulent.
“The Franco-German engine is not always an engine that rumbles softly; It is also a well-oiled machine that can make noise in its search for compromise,” he said.
Macron said France and Germany needed to show “new ambition” at a time when “history is rebalancing”, referring to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“Because we have cleared a path towards reconciliation, France and Germany should take the lead in restarting Europe in areas such as energy, innovation, technology, artificial intelligence and diplomacy”, he said.
On defence, Paris and Berlin announced that Franco-German battalions would be deployed to Romania and Lithuania to reinforce NATO’s Eastern Front.
The leaders welcomed “with satisfaction” recent progress on the joint fighter jet project, FCAS, and said they looked forward to making progress on their Franco-German tank project, according to the joint statement.
The joint declaration also states that the two countries are open to a long-term project of changing the EU treaties, and that in the short term they will try to overcome the “impassion” by switching to qualified majority voting on foreign policy in the Council of the EU. want to do and tax.