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People in Brussels are relieved that Joe Biden has been elected as the new president of the United States: the Democrat is considered a friend of Europe. At the same time, however, it is also clear that the EU needs to do more.
By Alexander Göbel, ARD-Studio Brussels
A picture is worth a thousand words: this is what EU Council President Charles Michel probably thought, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Manfred Weber, CSU politician and leader of the European People’s Party group. Because everyone adorns their congratulations to Joe Biden on Twitter with photos from the previous days, where they can be seen with Biden.
Others, like Parliament President David Sassoli or Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, congratulate in front of the camera – and the joy cannot be ignored: “I warmly congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris for their victory! ”said von der Leyen.
Positive consequences for Brexit, climate, trade
The signal is clear: We swear we have a good relationship with the United States and are relieved to have a partner in foreign policy veteran Biden again. Someone who believes in multilateralism, who values and understands the EU and its institutions. CDU MP David MacAllister is happy to see Europe as a friend and not an enemy, like Donald Trump: “I believe our relations under Trump have reached an unprecedented low, and it can only get better, and it will get even better. . “
MacAllister believes Biden’s election could actually have an immediate positive impact on Brexit negotiations. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had bet on a bilateral agreement with Trump, must now move and conclude a deal with the EU. Furthermore, Europe expects Trump’s successor to work together in the fight against the crown pandemic and a boost for the EU’s climate protection goals: Biden has already announced that he will return to the Paris climate agreement the first. day of his mandate.
Merkel: “We have to work harder”
Chancellor Angela Merkel joins the European chorus of promising, but clarifies: “We Germans and we Europeans know that we must take on more responsibility in this partnership in the 21st century. America remains our most important partner. greater efforts – and rightly so – to guarantee our security and to defend our beliefs in the world “.
Merkel expresses what hardly anyone in the EU is under the illusion of: instead of returning to the role of world policeman, the 46th president of the United States will also insist on greater EU responsibility, for example in the Near and Middle East. And, of course, on burden-sharing in NATO, that is, on the European partners who invest the most money in defense.
Focus on the Indo-Pacific
And Biden will also expect a clearer stance from Europeans on Chinese politics, believes Sigmar Gabriel, former federal foreign minister and president of Atlantic Bridge. The world has changed and this has consequences for Europe’s cooperation with the United States, he says: “Europeans are no longer at the center of the world. The Atlantic is no longer the center of gravity of world trade – as it was at along the case in the Indo-Pacific region The United States is orienting itself. And that’s a good thing, because we don’t have the strength to balance China – but that means America will become less and less European and more and more peaceful. creates conflicts of interest “.
It is precisely these conflicts that must be addressed and, if possible, resolved jointly, says CSU MP Markus Ferber: “It cannot be that we continue to drag ourselves with trade wars, as was the case with Trump. We must support each other. relocation, aircraft construction, automobile construction, mechanical engineering, food industry – we can do so much more together here. “
Whether it is the Baltic Sea pipeline Nordstream 2, the development of the 5G network and the attitude towards the controversial network provider Huawei, the question of whether and how large digital companies like Google and Facebook should be taxed, all these are issues. hot for the EU. But: Like in a good relationship, people can finally talk openly again, says Ferber.
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