(Paris) A long-awaited tête-à-tête to put the transatlantic relationship back on track: Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden meet in Rome on Friday for the first time since the Australian submarine crisis which angered Paris.
On the eve of the G20 summit, the French and American presidents will meet at the end of the day either at the French embassy, in the prestigious Farnese palace, or in another French influence in Rome such as the Villa Medici.
“It is therefore that President Macron will receive a visit from President Biden”, which has “an important political character”, underlines the Elysee.
For Paris, it is one more sign that the American administration is sending to patch things up with France after having already made amends by recognizing a certain responsibility in the quarrel.
Washington was visibly surprised by the very strong French reaction to the announcement in mid-September of a new alliance, dubbed “Aukus”, between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom in the Indo-Pacific region.
Besides the fact of not having been consulted, Paris had been very disappointed by the first consequence of this partnership: the abandonment by Australia of a mega-contract for French submarines.
Dissatisfied, Emmanuel Macron had waited a week before meeting with Joe Biden on September 22, a telephone discussion which had made it possible to initiate the relaxation. The two leaders then launched a “process of in-depth consultations” to restore the hard-seated trust between the two allies.
The meeting in Rome comes at the right time to “demonstrate that we have been able to negotiate together significant elements of cooperation” which “allow us to frame the Franco-American relationship for the future,” says an adviser to the French president.
According to expert Pierre Morcos, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, “Aukus will leave marks” but “the two countries seem eager to move forward and turn this diplomatic crisis into an opportunity to strengthen the bilateral partnership and rebalance transatlantic ties ”.
“Virtuous”
For Paris, the important thing is, beyond the promises, to obtain concrete commitments from Washington.
He seeks in particular to obtain the blessing of the Americans for the creation of a real European defense, a project dear to the French, but which is struggling to take shape 30 years after its launch.
“The main thing,” explains the Élysée, is “to get everyone to agree that there is no contradiction between European defense and the Atlantic Alliance”. “It is virtuous to be able to distribute the roles in such a way that the Europeans are collectively more capable, more committed, more robust actors, and that the Americans are for their part always just as reliable allies”.
For Paris, it is time for all European countries to take stock of the strategic pivot operated by the United States towards the Indo-Pacific and China, to the detriment of other regions including Europe and the Middle East. .
The concept of “European sovereignty” dear to Emmanuel Macron, however, arouses a certain mistrust in several EU countries, but also in the United States, where the defense industry seeks to defend its market shares on the “Old Continent. “.
Another wish of Emmanuel Macron is to obtain from Joe Biden a strengthening of his support in the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel. “American support is critical” because “it allows us to operate under better conditions,” said an adviser to the president.
So far, the United States has not publicly detailed how it intends to “strengthen its support for counterterrorism operations,” in the words of the joint statement released on September 22 after the Biden-Macron interview.
For several years, American forces have acted with discretion in the Sahel, leaving the countries of the region and France in the front line. Above all, they provide them with invaluable assistance from a large drone base located in northern Niger.
To warm up relations with France, the Biden administration is also counting on Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is expected on November 11 and 12 in Paris, on the occasion of the Paris Peace Forum and the International Conference on Libya. She will be received by Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée.