- This visit by Macron to Washington further signifies his aspirations of becoming the main representative and leader of the EU.
- This visit can also be seen as an attempt by both countries to resolve the differences after the AUKUS deal, in which France was sidelined by the UK and the USA.
- Macron’s visit provides an insight into the present economic issues surrounding the EU and the USA, along with the geopolitics that dictates the ties between the two regions.
France and the United States are important strategic allies of the Euro-Atlantic, and since times they have been shaping the security in the region. In an attempt to further bolster the relations between the countries, French President Macron visited Washington last week and was wholeheartedly welcomed by US President Biden. This visit was important as this was Macron’s first visit to Washington in his second stint as president.
The visit comes on the sidelines of setting an oil price cap embargo on Russian oil by G7 countries. There were two major agenda items for this meeting. One was the US Inflation Reduction Act, which according to the EU hurt European companies benefiting US companies, and the other was the Ukrainian war.
What is the US Inflation Act and why is Europe worried?
An anti-inflation bill that was signed into law in August this year in the American Congress talks of Washington providing $430 billion in state aid to ramp up American manufacturing and incentives for customers to buy American products, including cars and renewable energy. The EU says this act goes against international rules and has brought criticism from European leaders.
Since energy prices in Europe are higher than in the United States courtesy of the Ukrainian conflict, the fear among European countries is that European industries may relocate to the Atlantic to save energy prices, which can further damage Europe’s economy. This can possibly start a trade war between natural allies of the Euro-Atlantic. Further, the rising inflation across the EU (Germany reported 10.4% for October while other European countries reported average inflation of 8.2%) along with the rising costs of living has badly hit the European economy. As a result, major economies of Europe like Germany and France have been critical to the subsidy policies of the US, which have been hurting the European company. Consequently, leaders like Macron, Shulz, and EU chief Ursula van der Lynn have opposed USA’s Inflation Act.
Further, there is a rising fear of a trade war between the EU and the USA amid Russia’s presence in Ukraine, which would further weaken the Euro-Atlantic relationship. It is interesting to note that last month German Chancellor Schulz visited Beijing and had a talk with Chinese Premier Xi. Following this was Macron’s visit to Washington. This flurry of diplomatic visits tells a lot about the challenges faced by the European countries presently.
Significance of Macron’s US visit
This visit by Macron to Washington further signifies his aspirations of becoming the main representative and leader of the EU. He also wanted to vitalise the political isolation in Europe, which has largely been related to the end of the 16-year-long political career of Angela Merkel of Germany. With political instability in the UK and a new regime in Italy and Germany, the onus is on Macron to carry the burden of the EU, which has further increased because of the Ukraine war. This visit can also be seen as an attempt by both countries to resolve the differences after the AUKUS deal, in which France was sidelined by the UK and the USA causing a political storm between the two. This meeting was important as the war in Ukraine called for the highest level of unity among the Euro-Atlantic countries to further support Ukraine and weaken and isolate Russia.
The show of unity was shown recently when the G7, including Australia, agreed to cap the price of Russian oil at $60 per barrel. The move was highly criticised by Moscow which warned to stop oil exports to nations that implemented the oil price cap. Although certain interesting arguments were put forward by Macron in Washington, like providing guarantees to Ukraine and maintaining a proper, continuing dialogue with Russia to avoid isolation around Putin.
Amid all this, recently France, Germany, and the Netherlands demanded certain alternations to sanctions so that Russian agriculture commodities and fertiliser could reach European countries. But this was not accepted by Washington which continues to hold Russia accountable for its actions in Ukraine.
Other Challenges facing Europe and US relations
The problems of France and Europe don’t stop at economic grounds. It also has political reasons. Recently, western Europe has seen various political rifts:
The U.K. and France dispute – These two countries are known for their past rivalries, be it the great seven-year war or even recent issues like Brexit, illegal immigration, and the formation of AUKUS.
Brexit & Immigration – Ever since Brexit, these two countries have been involved in a maritime fishing dispute and licencing rights to do fishing in the English Channel as both parties struggle to allocate fishing grounds for them. This has resulted in a huge conflict. In 2021, the U.K. detained French boatmen and seized their licenses, which led to differences between the PM of the U.K. Boris Johnson and Macron.
Following this is the recent issue of immigration, which snowballed into a controversy after the UK’s secretary of state for the Home Department Suella Braverman sought to stop illegal immigrants from entering the UK. In order to stop the blame game between Paris and London, Braverman had to visit Paris in November which was seen as an attempt to mend differences.
AUKUS – The 2021 nuclear submarine deal of Australia with the UK and USA, replacing France, brought huge tremors to Euro-Atlantic relations. Such was the backlash that France recalled their ambassadors from Washington and London.
With the onset of winter, the European economy would further face major challenges. However, all these events present an opportunity for Europe to sail through the crises and reaffirm its status on the world stage.
(The author is a post-graduate student in International Relations at Kalinga university, Raipur. The opinions expressed are the author’s own)
Aayush Pal is a freelance writer on contemporary geopolitical developments. The views expressed in his work are entirely his own.
Shobhil Shrivastava 
Dr. Niranjan B Poojar