Charles Michel: We need a sovereign Europe more active internationally and with its own interests

The president of the European Council spoke about the role that Europe should have Charles Michelin an interview published in the French financial newspaper Les Echos and other European newspapers while justifying the his recent trip to China talking about “small steps that have a big value”.

Between them “the Chinese president’s condemnation of the nuclear threat, his remark that China supplies weapons to Ukraine and therefore does not blindly support Russiaas well as the commitment of the Chinese party to the resumption of an institutional dialogue on human rights”, says the Belgian president of the Council of EUas reported by the Athens News Agency.

“This mission was necessary: ​​it exists war in Ukraine, nuclear threat and threat of third world war. The EU has significant economic interests with China. We need a more sovereign Europe, more active internationally and with its own interests“, he commented.

Asked if this trip sends the wrong message to the US at a time when tensions with the EU are high, Michel stressed that the EU cannot be a byproduct of the tensions created by the rivalry between China and the US. “Europe must be a strong partner of the US, able to defend its economic interests. The situation of the two continents is not the same: the USA is an exporter of energy reimgs. Europe is paying an extremely heavy price for the energy crisis, which leads to impoverishment and the risk of economic recession,” he said, among other things.

Finally asked to comment on the reactions in the EU to the large subsidies that the Americans give to their industries, the president of the European Council said the following:At the G20 we emphasized the need to coordinate economic policies to address the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine. This must be addressed through dialogue. This debate is not new: it is very difficult for European companies, for example, to participate in public markets in the US. This shows that there is a question of a level playing field for the EU. We need fairer globalization with more common standards.”