French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez displayed their common vision on Thursday on the need for a "
very proactive response
" to the massive subsidies of American President Joe Biden's investment plan in the energy transition.
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“
We are both aware of the fact that we must react in a very proactive way
”, in order to “
give a very clear message to our companies
”, declared Emmanuel Macron to the press at the end of a Franco-Spanish summit in Barcelona.
"
Europe is going through a difficult time due to the war (in Ukraine, editor's note) but also due to commercial decisions taken by Europe's allies such as the United States
", underlined Pedro Sanchez for his part.
“
We welcome the fact that the United States is entering the green transition, but we must reach an agreement so that this commitment to the green transition does not mean the deindustrialization of Europe
,” added the head of the Spanish government.
The US President's climate investment plan (Inflation Reduction Act, IRA), which provides for large subsidies for companies established in the United States in the electric vehicle or renewable energy sector, is causing serious concern in the EU (European Union).
The Europeans are currently trying to obtain derogations from the American plan, in order to reduce the risk that their companies or European productions will suffer.
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But Emmanuel Macron is maneuvering to convince his partners of the importance of adopting an equally massive European plan.
In particular, he must talk about it with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday.
The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, assured last week in Madrid "to
work
" on measures "
comparable
" to massive American subsidies, in order to protect European industry against the risk of "
distortion
" of competition.
