Enlarge image
Emmanuel Macron and Pedro Sánchez: "Resolute" response to the US
Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP
Europe is worried about a big US subsidy package.
Investments in renewable energy worth billions and tax breaks could make the United States more attractive to companies than the EU countries.
That's why France and Spain have now confirmed that they want to work together for a "determined" European response to the US subsidy package.
Joint borrowing is "not a taboo," said French President Emmanuel Macron after signing a Franco-Spanish friendship treaty with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The contract is intended to raise the relationship between the two neighbors to a level similar to that between Paris and Berlin.
It is similar to the friendship treaties that France only signed with Germany in 1963 and Italy in 2021.
»Clear message« to the USA?
"We are both convinced that we must act very decisively," Macron said.
Europe is more than others affected by the consequences of the Ukraine war and must protect its economy.
It is therefore all the more necessary for Europe to send a "clear message" to the USA.
"We have to protect our big projects," said Macron, referring to the production of batteries and hydrogen, for example.
If these projects are threatened by competition, this must be »absorbed and compensated for«.
Sánchez added: "We welcome the fact that the US is making an environmental transition, but we must find an agreement so that this does not lead to the decline of industry in Europe."
In European countries there is currently concern that industrial companies could move to the USA because of the subsidies there.
France is committed to launching a similar subsidy strategy for the EU.
It is unclear how this will be financed.
This is also to be discussed at the Franco-German Council of Ministers in Paris.
The federal government has so far rejected debt-financed programs.
ptz/dpa/AFP
