FROM OUR SEND Falmouth (Cornwall) – All the effort of the G7 in Cornwall aimed at projecting unity of purpose and views: genuinely wonderful to see each one in person, said Boris Johnson as he kicked off the work. We must make sure that we learn the lesson of the pandemic, that we do not repeat the same mistakes, he urged: and stressed everyone’s consensus for to rebuild in a greener, more just, more equal way, pi gender neutral (ie without distinction of sex) and why not, more feminine.
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But beyond the official images they can be glimpsed those ripples that the smiles of circumstance cannot conceal. This summit was to be the signal of the return of the West, cohesive in its source of global challenges and strong in its values: but a family that finds itself more quarrelsome than ever behind the scenes.
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The Europeans have already arrived in Cornwall with a poisoned tooth because of Northern Ireland: lBrexit agreement has become a battleground between London and Brussels and the threat of a trade war with reciprocal sanctions looms on the horizon. Before the start of the G7 Merkel, Macron, Draghi, Von der Leyen and Michel sat at a table together to emphasize that the EU speaks with one voice: and today they will all go in procession to Boris to repeat the same thing to him, that is that the agreements on Ireland must be applied no ifs and buts, because the British must understand that there is no other way out.
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The London-EU clash is also a headache for Joe Biden, who came to Europe to rebuild those bridges that Trump had burned behind him. But even between the two sides of the Atlantic, harmony is struggling to take off: and the knot of contention the relationship with China. Europeans are asking for a balanced approach with Beijing, which recognizes a multifaceted and multi-level relationship: therefore a China partner for global challenges, as well as an economic competitor and systemic rival.
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But the Americans arrived in Cornwall lance in rest, they want to give birth a final statement with strong tones towards Beijing, with clear language. The Europeans are not there and are engaging in a real tug-of-war over the final wording: The communiqué will have to be balanced, not naive, the EU delegation explained. And therefore in the end in the final text the question of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which Europeans consider a matter of the World Health Organization, should not be asked.
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More generally, the concern of EU leaders that the G7 will not end up turning into a kind of anti-Chinese platform. While for the Americans it should also offer an investment program that is an alternative to the Silk Road.
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Even on vaccines, the patent suspension proposed by the White House is not a magic bullet, argue the Europeans, for whom intellectual property is not an obstacle to access to vaccines. To this G7, the EU wants to see its role as the world’s pharmacy recognized, which already exports half of its production.
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Against the background of everything, we see a more general nervousness on the part of Europeans: nothing assures that Biden’s parable is not short and soon Trump or one of his emulators cannot return to the White House. And therefore the diplomacies of the Old Continent aim to obtain the greatest possible commitment from the United States. Because there is no certainty of tomorrow.
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June 11, 2021 (change June 11, 2021 | 22:43)
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