At the meeting between EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden on Friday, the focus will be on access to the US IRA subsidy program for European companies.
Washington/Brussels. On Friday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will be received by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, in Washington. The White House meeting is the culmination of the commission chief’s multi-day trip to North America — and at the same time the meeting where the stakes are highest. In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions with China, a Western alliance seems more urgent than ever. But there are obstacles at home that stand in the way of this solidarity – and one of the biggest obstacles is US economic policy towards its European allies.
Specifically, this is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a package of subsidies for the US economy worth almost €400 billion, which aims to ensure that the US maintains the advantage in green technologies and investments in the energy transition. and mobility. From the EU’s point of view, there is nothing wrong with the aim – but with the means, because the measures contained in the IRA aim, in the first place, to keep goods produced in Europe (e.g. electric cars or wind turbines) out. of the US market and, secondly, aim to do so with the aim of attracting EU companies to the US. Both are considered hostile acts in Brussels.