It’s more than a year before Americans go to the polls again, but in the EU officials are already racing to get as many projects done as possible before there is any possible change of leadership in the White House.
Currently, there is close, unprecedented cooperation and coordination between the European Union and the US Biden administration, and the relationship is developing to high levels. An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNBC.
The EU realizes that this cooperation may change when the president changes, so the EU is trying to take advantage of the current momentum in pushing number of files and topics of common interest forward. The European official added.
The EU was plainly pleased with Joe Biden’s election in late 2020 after four challenging years of Trump’s presidency especially on trade, defense and technology files.
Relations between Europe and the White House improved radically once Biden arrived in the Oval Office, where his style and priorities were more consistent with Brussels, including how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the climate change dossier, and also how to address the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Trump did not answer a question about whether he want Russia or Ukraine to win the war, and did not commit to any support for Kiev if he win the presidency again. However, he claimed that the war would end within 24 hours if he returned to power. Speaking to CNN earlier this month.
There is a collective realization in Europe that whoever becomes the next US president will naturally put US interests first, which often incompatible with what Europe wants. Evidence of this was when the Biden administration, despite the close relationship, passed the US Inflation Reduction Act, which negatively affects the bloc’s economy.
Meanwhile, EU-wide elections are scheduled for June 2024 and officials in Brussels publicly say they have until the end of this year to complete political action.
Officials believe they won’t be able to pass new legislation as of January, with legislators focusing on their campaign.