Emmanuel Macron multiplies his outings abroad. Barely returned from China, the President of the Republic is expected, Tuesday, April 11, in Amsterdam for the first state visit of a French president to the Netherlands since 2000. “It is the expression of a rapprochement Franco-Dutch that it was time to recognize, the result of a form of European tectonics that can be dated at least to 2016 “with Brexit, notes the French presidency.
The main objective of this visit is to encourage the economic and industrial sovereignty of these two countries in the European Union. The head of state will deliver a speech to this effect on Tuesday afternoon at the Nexus research institute in The Hague.
In the morning, Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will be welcomed by King Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima, with a ceremony accompanied by a review of the troops. A state dinner will also be offered in their honor on Tuesday evening at the royal castle.
Emmanuel Macron is pushing for a massive investment plan in the green industry in Europe to respond to that launched by Joe Biden. The EU is also concerned about excessive dependence on China in certain strategic economic sectors.
“We don’t want to depend on others on critical issues,” Emmanuel Macron insisted on Sunday in the French business daily Les Echos. “The day you no longer have a choice on energy, on how to defend yourself, on social networks, on artificial intelligence because we no longer have the infrastructure on these subjects, you go out history for a while,” he said.
In the wake of the speech, Paris and The Hague will sign an “innovation pact” on Wednesday, including cooperation in semiconductors, quantum physics and energy. The French STMicroeletronics and the Dutch ASLM, two European heavyweights in semiconductors, already have joint projects.
On the side of quantum physics, which makes it possible to multiply the computing power of computers, the Twenty-Seven plan to invest seven billion euros, “which is greater than what both the Americans and China are doing” , underlines the Elysée. “But none of the European countries alone will succeed, we need collaboration, we need the strengths of each of the actors,” insists Paris.
Emmanuel Macron, who will be accompanied by seven ministers (Foreign, European Affairs, Armies, Interior, Energy Transition, Industry, Research and Transport), will also have intergovernmental consultations with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his team on Wednesday. The two leaders nurture a good personal relationship, while that between the French president and German chancellor Olaf Scholz has yet to be built.
The Netherlands, reputed to be more liberal and frugal within the EU, has also moved closer to other European partners since the exit of its traditional ally, the United Kingdom, from the Union. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the positions of Paris and The Hague “have converged” in terms of economic sovereignty, in particular industrial policy, wants to believe the Élysée.
“The state visit will strengthen […] joint efforts to make Europe stronger, greener and safer,” added the Royal House of the Netherlands. But if it emphasizes, like Emmanuel Macron, “European strategic autonomy”, the Royal Palace also insists on the necessary preservation of an “open economy”.
