The first signs of detente came at the G20 in Rome at the end of October, with the meeting between Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron . The presidents offered the world the image of rapprochement after operation Aukus, which the former called “clumsy” apologizing to the second, namely the security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that cost France a order for nuclear-powered submarines worth 56 billion euros for the colossus Naval Group.
Biden sent his deputy Kamala Harris to Paris, on his first trip to Europe to participate (also) in the Conference on Libya. He also stopped at the Elysée for a meeting that lasted an hour and a half. Macron thanked Harris saying he was “extremely grateful” for his presence in Paris and recalled the “very fruitful meeting” with Biden in Rome. Harris, on the other hand, stressed that “when the United States and France have worked together on challenges and opportunities, we have always had great success”. Together they reaffirmed how “crucial” cooperation between the two countries is, especially in this difficult phase “at the start of a new era”.
A new era that also concerns space and cyber security, matters at the heart of an agreement signed between the two countries. Harris, who heads the National Space Council, announced that some departments of the US government (including the Pentagon, National Intelligence and NASA) will work “with their French counterparts” and will establish “a regular bilateral dialogue to ensure a comprehensive approach to cooperation. space”. During the meeting with Macron, Harris defined this confrontation as a way to create “rules of the road” for the “new frontier of space”. Together the two countries will have to work on shared goals such as “expanding the frontiers of space”, increasing access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and “promoting a sustainable space economy”. The whole,
As for cyber security, a subject very dear to the vice president who has excellent relations in Silicon Valley, the Biden administration has registered a clear change compared to the previous one led by Donald Trump. Indeed, we learn from the White House note, Harris “announced the United States’ decision to support the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace – a voluntary commitment to work with the international community to promote cyber security and preserve an open Internet. , interoperable, safe and reliable “.
An opening that also looks like an endorsement in Paris and Macron, even looking at the post Angela Merkelin Germany. Appointment in the first quarter of next year, when the second meeting of the US-EU Council on trade and technology will be held under the French presidency of the Council of the European Union (and a few weeks before the vote for the Elysée). At the top of the agenda, semiconductors, a dossier dear to Macron for political, industrial and international reasons.
(Photo: Twitter @VP)
