US presidential election: Biden elected, Europe relieved

Ursula von der Leyen, Angela Merkel, Pedro Sanchez, Emmanuel Macron… Reactivity is not necessarily compatible with writing a press release at twenty-seven.

But, this Saturday, November 7, European leaders have deliberately taken care to deliver at the same time, and by messages of the same content, their good wishes to the winner of the American presidential election.

“The Americans have appointed their President.

Congratulations Joe Biden and Kamala Harris!

We have a lot to do to meet today's challenges.

Let's act together!

"Wrote Emmanuel Macron on Twitter, in words similar to those of his counterparts on the continent.

The Americans have appointed their President.

Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris!

We have a lot to do to meet today's challenges.

Let's act together!

- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 7, 2020

Way of emphasizing, according to the Elysee, that "it is Europe, the interlocutor".

“The bilateral, interpersonal relationship exists, but the strategic interests and the partnerships are European.

There is no dispersed order in bilateral relations with the United States ”, insists the French presidency, arguing that Berlin and Paris were at the initiative of this coordination of congratulations.

"The strategic distance from Europe, already initiated under Barack Obama, will remain," decrypts the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune.

It would be a mistake to believe that everything is changing, Europe must rely above all on itself.

"

"It will be less theatrical with Biden"

The fact remains that we will retain, friendly and virile demonstrations in small annoyances, with the backdrop of deep political disagreements on major issues, "the interpersonal relationship" between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron.

From the French president and Joe Biden, we have never seen a handshake.

The two men have never met.

Biden's entourage, many of them former Obama administration executives, is not unknown to diplomats, however.

And the Head of State obviously followed this crazy election closely, in conjunction with his former diplomatic advisor, now French Ambassador to Washington, Philippe Etienne.

New president, new personality… at odds with Donald Trump, impulsive and thunderous, playing hot / cold and provocation to excess.

"It will be less theatrical with Biden," predicts a macronist.

"It will be simpler, more peaceful, there will be less unpredictability," said LREM deputy for the French in North America, Roland Lescure.

"More like a bend than a complete spin"

And on the merits?

Iran, China, Middle East, trade relations with Europe… There is no shortage of hot issues.

"Emmanuel Macron is delighted that the elected president is clearly committed to global issues," simply said the Elysee Palace on Saturday evening, while Joe Biden has already announced his intention to join the Paris Agreement on the climate from which Donald Trump had resigned with a crash.

“Trump was totally into

.

Biden will be more in line with the logic of multilateralism, ”also advances Roland Lescure.

For the rest, judges a minister, "it will be more of a turn than a complete spin": "There will be a change in the climate, perhaps in trade with Europe and a speech a little more favorable to NATO, but the main directions of American foreign policy will remain the same.

"

Apart from the far right, the French political class has generally welcomed the victory of Joe Biden.

“Having an American president who does not echo populism among us is not bad,” blows a member of the government.

The fact remains that, despite his defeat, Donald Trump gathers more votes than in 2016… “It is no accident of history and it goes beyond his own person.

He captured a social discomfort, identity, observes Clément Beaune.

What brought Trump to power is still there.

"