Secretary of State for Europe Laurence Boone on Wednesday (March 29) called on the Biden administration to work with the European Union (EU) on “expanded partnerships” with other regions of the world, in particular on the materials necessary for the energy transition.
“The idea is that we get together, beyond the EU and the G7, to source critical materials from producing countries to diversify our supplies. We must coordinate between friendly countries”insisted to AFP Ms. Boone, visiting the United States since Monday.
“It’s about seeing how to expand our partnership to other regions of the world” being in the same approach as the United States and the EU, such as certain Asian countries, “encourage them to look beyond”added Laurence Boone.
The trip was also an opportunity to highlight, both to the private sector and to the administration, recent European advances, such as the proposal by the European Commission (EC) for a regulation for an industry “net zero”validated by the European Council, as well as the validated reform of the European electricity market.
The draft European regulation is intended as a response to President Biden’s major climate plan (IRA), definitively adopted last summer and which has since raised concerns, both on the European side and among the Asian partners of the United States, Japan and Korea. from the south in the lead.
“It’s a response to the IRA that puts us on an equal footing, it’s no longer Europe asking for something about it, but suddenly Europe is stronger. This creates a different relationship and vis-à-vis the companies it is reassuring, because it gives a framework” to transatlantic relations, said the Secretary of State.
“We wanted to highlight the speed with which we reacted, between the decision at the December Council where we decided to meet on the IRA and that of March where we reached an agreement” between Member States, she added.
A reminder that is all the more important for the Secretary of State, as the US Department of Finance must specify in the coming days the framework for the application of the IRA concerning subsidies for electric vehicles as well as the materials necessary for the energy transition.
On Monday, Japan and the United States announced an agreement on the subject which suggests that Japanese products will be taken into account in the application framework and the EU hopes to benefit from equivalent treatment.
Visiting Washington at the end of the week, the European Commissioner in charge of the digital economy, Margrethe Vestager, is due to meet the American Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo then the Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and address these subjects in particular.
