The president of the EU commission praised the maxi US incentive plan underlining that such a “massive investment” in green technologies is good for everyone. For this, you explained, in the wake of the IRA Brussels you launched your plan for green tech. Now, however, a meeting point will have to be found between European and American incentives because “if they don’t align they will cancel each other out”, explained a White House official
The enemy today is Russia. But everything points to the next one being there Chinese. The meeting between Joe Biden e Ursula von der Leyen in Washington was held with these premises. The negative impact ofInflation Reduction Actthe European response with the Net-Zero business plan – expected for next week together with the Critical Raw Materials Act on rare earths – and the possible concessions that the US can make to its European ally were just one of the topics on the table. Perhaps not even the main one with respect to the basic objective of the renewed transatlantic alliance: to counter thecommercial and technological hegemony of Beijing.
According to the statements following the meeting, transatlantic tension seems to have decreased. The president of the EU commission praised the maxi US incentive plan emphasizing that such a “massive investment” in green technologies is good for all. For this reason, he explained, in the wake of the IRA Brussels has launched its plan for green tech. Now, between European and American incentives, however, it will have to be found a meeting point because “if they don’t align they will cancel each other out,” explained a White House official. To ensure that European companies can also benefit from US subsidies, the American president and von der Leyen have begun work on a trade deal on critical minerals, essential for the production of electric vehicle batteries. If an agreement were found, Washington and Brussels would also obtain the collateral effect of reducing dependence on China, which is rich in these elements. The two leaders also pledged to reach an agreement on sustainable steel and aluminum by October 2023. The US and the EU have taken two “important steps”: start working “for an agreement on critical materials” and “ensure safe supply chains for batteries in the EU and guarantee access to the US market”. said Ursula von der Leyen after the summit. At the same time “the Dialogue on clean energy incentives will be launched,” she added.
China is not directly mentioned in the conversation between Biden and von der Leyen but is present between the lines of the joint statement, especially when it comes to the need to strengthen “economic and national security”. As proof that the EU also wants to gradually free itself from the Dragon, the president brought the decision of the Netherlands to the Oval Office, immediately after that of Japan, to block the export of technologies for the production of microchips to Beijing. A victory for Biden who had been trying to convince the allies to take this decisive step for months and whois preparing for further tightening next month on semiconductor exports to China.
But for Washington Beijing does not represent a threat to the West only from an economic point of view. As far as we know, the American president is ready to share with Brussels intelligence information which show that China is ready to supply arms to Russia in its war against Ukraine. Von der Leyen and Biden reaffirmed the strength of transatlantic unity in the face of aggression by Vladimir Putin(“Russia will pay for the atrocities committed in Russia”, underlined the EU leader), and expressed the intention to launch new sanctions not only against Moscow but also against “third countries”, an expression with which the American administration usually refers to Beijing.
The US and the EU are also working “to further limit Russian revenue, at the same time guaranteeing the continuity of energy supplies to emerging markets and developing countries through the maximum price ceiling set by the G7 for crude oil and petroleum products of Russian origin transported by sea”. On the energy front, the president of the European Commission thanked Biden for the gas supplies that allowed Europe to overcome the crisis caused by Vladimir Putin. The United States “helped us tremendously when we wanted to get rid of dependence on Russian energy,” von der Leyen stressed.
The draft of liberation from China implemented by von der Leyen is complex and it is said that it will not be well digested by all 27. There is the issue of “domestic and international guarantees” – mentioned by the Italian and German finance ministers Giancarlo Giorgetti and Christian Lindner – which various capitals demand from the EU in the face of a costly change of pace. And China’s economic relations with various member states remain close and articulated: the change in progress takes time. But the war in Ukraine could accelerate it. The aid given to Moscow by third countries such as North Korea and Iran and the need to tighten the circumvention of sanctions will be among the topics of the meeting between von der Leyen and Biden.