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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 must do more.
By Alexander Göbel, ARD-Studio Brussels
A picture is worth a thousand words: that’s what EU Council President Charles Michel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and Manfred Weber, CSU politician and People’s Party leader, probably thought European. Because everyone adorns their congratulations to Joe Biden on Twitter with photos from previous days, in which they can be seen with Biden.
Others, such as the Speaker of Parliament, David Sassoli or the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, send congratulations 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 her win! ” They read.
Positive consequences for Brexit, climate and trade
The signal is clear: We swear we have a good relationship with the US, and we are relieved that we have a partner again in foreign policy veteran Biden. Someone who believes in multilateralism, who values and understands the EU and its institutions. CDU MP David MacAllister is delighted with someone who sees Europe as a friend and not an enemy, like Donald Trump: “I think our relations under Trump have reached an unprecedented low, and it can only get better, and it will get better too. “
MacAllister believes that Biden’s election could have an immediate positive effect on the Brexit negotiations. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had bet on a bilateral agreement with Trump, must now act and close a deal with the EU. In addition, Europe hopes that Trump’s successor will work together in the fight against the corona pandemic and a boost for the EU’s climate protection goals: Biden has already announced that he will rejoin the Paris climate agreement on the first day. of his mandate.
Merkel: “We have to work harder”
Chancellor Angela Merkel also joins the European chorus of the hopeful, but makes it clear: “We Germans and Europeans know that we have to take more responsibility in this partnership in the 21st century. The United States remains our most important partner. But wait. to make greater efforts, and rightly so, to ensure our safety and defend our beliefs in the world. “
Merkel expresses something that almost no one in the EU has any illusions about: instead of reverting to the role of world policeman, the 46th US president will also insist on greater responsibility for the EU, for example in the Near. and the Middle East. And, of course, in the distribution of the load in NATO, that is to say, in which the European partners invest more money in defense.
Focus on the Indo-Pacific
And Biden will also expect a clearer position from Europeans on Chinese politics, believes former federal foreign minister and Atlantic Bridge chairman Sigmar Gabriel. The world has changed, and that has consequences for Europe’s cooperation with the US, He says: “Europeans are no longer in the center of the world. The Atlantic is no longer the center of gravity of world trade, that has been the case for a long time in the Indo-Pacific region. America is gearing up. 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 each time more peaceful. And that creates conflicts of interest. “
It is precisely these conflicts that must be addressed and, if possible, clarified in partnership, says CSU MP Markus Ferber: “It cannot be that we continue to drag ourselves with trade wars, as was the case with Trump. We have to support each other. . moving, in aircraft construction, in automobile construction, in mechanical engineering, in the food industry, we can do much more together here. “
Whether it’s the Nordstream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, the development of the 5G network, and the attitude towards controversial network provider Huawei, the question of whether and how big digital companies like Google and Facebook should be taxed – these are all hot topics. for the EU. But: Like in a good relationship, people can finally speak openly again, says Ferber.
