Emmanuel Macron is going to the Netherlands this Monday, January 30, for a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in order to prepare for the European Council on February 9 and 10 in Brussels. On the menu for discussion: support for Ukraine, but also the strengthening of European industrial policy.
With our correspondent in the region, Laure Broulard
The French president is maneuvering to mobilize around a proactive response from the EU to theUS Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides massive public aid to the green technology sector.
Relaxation of the rules limiting national public aid, European sovereignty funds… If the measures proposed by Ursula von der Leyen to support European industry are viewed favorably in Paris, they are not unanimous in the north of Europe.
In an open letter sent to the Commission last week, seven member states are concerned about plans to ” permanent or excessive untargeted subsidies in response to the IRA.
Finland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Austria and Slovakia believe that this could create harmful competition between states and favor the richest countries. The signatories also fear too direct a confrontation with Washington.
Concerns that could find an echo in the Netherlands. Frans Timmermans, Dutch Vice-President of the European Commission, former Foreign Minister of his country, co-signed a column on the subject with two other commissioners, in the FinancialTimes. He worries about a possible fragmentation of the single market if the EU were to massively subsidize the industry.
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