It is a first for twenty-three years and the arrival of Jacques Chirac: the President of the French Republic will make, on April 11 and 12, a State visit to the Netherlands intended to seal the rapprochement of the two countries within of the European Union.
“It is the expression of a Franco-Dutch rapprochement that it was time to recognize it, the result of a form of European tectonics that can be dated at least to 2016” with Brexit, notes the French presidency. with the AFP.
The presidential couple will be welcomed by King Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima, with a ceremonial ceremony accompanied by a review of the troops. A state dinner will also be offered in their honor on Tuesday evening at the royal castle. The head of state, who returned from China on Saturday, will deliver a speech on the economic and industrial sovereignty of the EU on Tuesday afternoon at the Nexus research institute in The Hague.
A plan for massive investments in green industry in Europe
Emmanuel Macron is pushing for a massive investment plan in the green industry in Europe to respond to that launched by Joe Biden. The EU is also concerned about excessive dependence on China in certain strategic economic sectors.
“We don’t want to depend on others on critical issues,” Macron insisted on Sunday in Les Echos.
“The day when you no longer have a choice on energy, on how to defend yourself, on social networks, on artificial intelligence because we no longer have the infrastructure on these subjects, you go out history for a while”.
In the wake of the speech, Paris and The Hague will sign a “pact for innovation” on Wednesday, with the key to cooperation in semiconductors, quantum physics and energy. The French STMicroeletronics and the Dutch ASLM, two European semi-conductor heavyweights, already have joint projects.
Already, in October, the automobile manufacturers of Hauts-de-France and fifteen Dutch structures (companies, training organizations, R&D centers) signed a first cooperation agreement in electric mobility. The two territories, barely a few hundred kilometers apart, have certain similarities: each has roughly equivalent sectors with 400 automotive companies employing 50,000 employees in the Netherlands against 550 companies employing 56,000 employees in Hauts-de-France.
On the side of quantum physics, which makes it possible to multiply the computing power of computers, the Twenty-Seven plan to invest seven billion euros, “which is superior to what both the Americans and China are doing“, underlines the Elysée. “But none of the European countries alone will succeed, we need collaboration, we need the strengths of each of the actors“, insists Paris.
Macron accompanied by seven ministers
The Head of State, who will be accompanied by seven ministers (Foreign, European Affairs, Armed Forces, Interior, Energy Transition, Industry, Research and Transport), will also have intergovernmental consultations with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his team on Wednesday.
The two leaders nurture a good personal relationship, while that between the French president and German chancellor Olaf Scholz has yet to be built. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the positions of Paris and The Hague have “converged“In terms of economic sovereignty, in particular industrial policy, wants to believe the Elysée.
Emmanuel Macron has also strengthened ties with other capitals, notably Rome and Madrid, beyond the traditional Paris-Berlin axis. The Netherlands, reputed to be more liberal and frugal within the EU, have come closer to other European partners since the exit of their traditional ally, the United Kingdom, from the Union.
“The state visit will help to strengthen (..) joint efforts to make Europe stronger, greener and safer,” adds the Royal House of the Netherlands.
But if he emphasizes, like Mr. Macron, “European strategic autonomy”, the Royal Palace also insists on the necessary preservation of an “open economy”.
The two governments will also work to finalize a defense agreement by 2024.
(with AFP)