Paris warns of the strategic fragility of the EU after the submarine crisis | International

The French ambassador to the United States, Philippe Étienne, has already packed his suitcases to start the return to Washington this week, after being called for consultations as a sign of the deep indignation that the so-called submarine crisis has caused in France. Confidence, however, remains at home for the moment. The “stab in the back” (Paris dixit) suffered with the secret agreement negotiated between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, baptized as Aukus, to provide the latter country with submarines that it had negotiated with France, has been too painful. And it is a reminder, says the French Government, that although there is a new tenant in the White House, Democrat Joe Biden, with a more conciliatory demeanor than the explosive Donald Trump, the methods and interests of the America first defended by the Republican have not changed so much.

Europe, says Paris, should take note. Because the affront has not only been economic or only against France: the unexpected revelation of the Aukus program, which beyond the submarines represents a whole military strategy to counteract the strength of China in the Indian and Pacific region, was carried out in the At the same time that the EU presented its own Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, which has been ignored with the announcement. And it also comes after the Afghan debacle.

“The behavior of the US has been brutal, but it is not a surprise,” said French Defense Minister Florence Parly in an interview with the newspaper. The world. “We have noticed this underlying trend of the North American partner for several years. It was first manifested when, at the last moment, the US backed down when it came to participating in the attacks on Syrian chemical weapons in 2013. It has come out clearly, in recent months, with the unilateral withdrawal of Afghanistan. And now again ”, he analyzed.

Despite the disappointment, this incident has served Paris to relaunch its mantra of the importance of Europe doing more in military and strategic matters.

“The first lesson to be learned from this episode is that the EU must build its strategic independence,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said in another interview. A similar message has been heard from every member of the Government who has been asked openly about the issue.

Curiously, however, the main affected party and the biggest defender of greater European defensive autonomy, President Emmanuel Macron, has so far eluded publicly speaking on the deep crisis that has led him to accept, only after much reluctance, the phone calls conciliatory proposals proposed by Biden and by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson (the Australian, Scott Morrison, continues to ignore him for the moment). This Monday marks the fourth anniversary of his famous speech at the Sorbonne, where he already proposed the creation of a European intervention force, a defense budget and a common military doctrine, but Macron does not have on the agenda to commemorate the date or speak again about the topic.

“Our European allies have to open their eyes,” claim meanwhile on behalf of France Le Maire and other ministers.

But has Europe really listened? The 27 “have clearly expressed their solidarity with France,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell in New York. However, the tone of the reactions has been at best moderate compared to the unusually harsh language of Paris. Or “prudent”, as he defined it The world.

In the background, there is the everlasting difference between the French vision – the bloc’s only nuclear power – of a more strategically and militarily independent Europe, and the more or less evasive response of its partners, not all of whom are so interested in increasing military budgets or disengaging themselves. from Washington. In the case of the Indo-Pacific, the divergences are sharpening. The EU defines this area as of “growing strategic importance” for the 27 due to “its growing economic, demographic and political weight that make it a key player in shaping the international order and addressing global challenges.”

But not all Europeans are as interested in the region as France, which, after all, has almost two million citizens and 7,000 displaced soldiers there. The entire region is an essential strategic space, and not only in economic matters, for the whole of Europe, insists Paris. Since the Obama era, Minister Parly recalled, Washington has focused its interest on China. And “in this strategic analysis, Europe counts less and less”, he warned.

However, Europeans seem ready to turn the page. Despite the fact that it was evaluated to postpone it in solidarity with France, the European Commission has confirmed that the summit with the United States this Wednesday in Pittsburgh will finally be held, with which the Trade and Technology Council (TTC, for its acronym in English) will be inaugurated. ). Officially focused on strategic questions about semiconductors, according to Bloomberg, it also seeks as a background to analyze, among others, how to stop China with stronger investment rules and to prevent the technology from being used to threaten security and human rights.

Still, France promises to continue to advance its vision. Macron has agreed with Biden to meet at the end of October. In January he will assume the rotating European presidency and he already has a strategic calendar on his agenda, starting with the holding of a summit on European defense, as announced by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Strasbourg.

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