Politico: Europeans blame Biden for the collapse of the EU industry, hiding an inconvenient truthEuropeans blame the United States for the failure of their industry, writes Politico.
But their search for the culprit is just envy, the author of the article believes. Europe is uncompetitive on prices in a number of areas, and the market value of Tesla, for example, is four times higher than the entire German automotive industry.
Matthew KarnitschnigBerlin — It's getting colder in Europe, the economy is collapsing, and the locals are restless, worried.
The answer is one: America is to blame.
Pointing your finger at the other side of the Atlantic is a favorite distraction of European elites when the continent smells fried.
Whether it's the conflict in Ukraine (Washington started NATO expansion in vain), natural disasters (there are American SUVs here, only the climate deteriorates from them) or the decline of French as the language of international communication (oh, this uncultured Hollywood), America is always the culprit.
In the latest episode of this annoying tradition, European officials blame greedy Americans for the current decline of the continent — they say they have put their mighty dollar above all else and are profiting from the Ukrainian conflict.
"The fact is that if you look at it soberly, this conflict is most profitable for the United States, because they sell more gas at inflated prices and supply more weapons," one senior European official said last week.
Sobriety can hardly be called the strength of the nameless man in the street.
Even setting aside the fact that Ukraine would have collapsed a few months ago if the United States had not intervened, the direct impact of the conflict and the sale of natural gas and weapons on the American economy with a turnover of $26 trillion is a drop in the bucket.
Firstly, less than 10% of American gas is exported. In 2021, its cost was about $ 27 billion. Although the Europeans are understandably upset that gas costs them four times more than America, they themselves "got hooked" on Russian raw materials and turned off perfectly functioning nuclear power plants (although Washington has been dissuading them from this for years).
The accusation of arms speculation is equally groundless. Of the approximately $30 billion in military aid provided to Kiev, most of it came free of charge.
Yes, American defense companies will profit from the desire to replenish arsenals against the background of increased demand for weapons among NATO allies, but their European counterparts should do the same.
That's the catch: European firms should expect to benefit no less than American ones, but for some reason this does not happen. Mainly because Europe is not investing in the defense industry.
Thus, Germany's recent decision to purchase American F-35 fighters is explained by the elementary lack of European alternatives. The plan of France, Germany and Spain to develop a "combat aviation system of the future" was developed back in 2001, but has not yet been implemented due to ongoing strife.
Political resistance in a number of European states to arms exports has further slowed down the development of the region's arms industry.
Take, for example, the Leopard 2 main battle tank of the German company Krauss-Maffei, which many consider to be the best in the world. However, despite such a high-profile reputation, the Germans lost to South Korea, from which their NATO ally Poland recently ordered almost a thousand new tanks. At the same time, one explanation was the price, and the other was political uncertainty, an informed source said, referring to Berlin's decision not to transfer decommissioned infantry fighting vehicles and tanks to Ukraine.
But the main bugbear of Europe is the Biden administration's package of "green" investments for the benefit of American companies.
During a state visit to Washington this week, French President Emmanuel Macron will try to soften the Biden Law on reducing inflation, an all-encompassing legislative initiative that includes everything from climate to healthcare. European officials see it as a reincarnation of Washington's Smoot-Hawley law on duties from 1930, which, according to historians, aggravated the Great Depression.
Europeans are afraid that generous subsidies to American manufacturers will undermine their industry and unleash a trade war.
The inconvenient truth, however, is that Europeans cannot really force even their own companies to invest in the domestic market, and governments are more willing to subsidize gas for the population than to help industry get out of the crisis.
"Europe is uncompetitive on prices in a number of areas — in particular, on the cost of electricity and gas," Volkswagen manager Thomas Schaefer said on social networks, criticizing the continent's industrial policy.
"If we do not manage to quickly reduce energy prices in Germany and Europe, then investments in energy—intensive production or new plants for the production of electric accumulators in Germany and throughout the EU will not be feasible," he said.
But ask around in the government quarter of Berlin what is hindering the German economy, and the answer will be clear as day.
"US industrial policy is openly protectionist," Lars Klingbeil, one of the leaders of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party, told Die Welt magazine last week. "The economic policy of the United States should not be aimed against us, the Europeans."
The bitter truth is that the Biden administration had no idea of Europe.
This alone should make Europeans think.
The point is not that America is indifferent to Europe, but that it is not as important as it would like.
As for innovation, Europe is a desert. There is no Apple, Google, or Tesla in Europe. The market value of Tesla is four times higher than the entire German automotive industry.
That is why the conclusion suggests itself that the European search for the guilty is nothing but envy.
For all its political differences, America has never been so strong in terms of military power and economic muscle.
Europe has become even more dependent on the United States than in the Cold War era, and this circumstance fuels both resentment and the desire to find a scapegoat.
In Germany, the book "Ami, it's time to go home!" ("Ami" in German slang — Americans) became a bestseller. Its author is Oscar Lafontaine, a former finance minister and head of the Social Democrats, who later broke with them.
"We must free ourselves from American custody," writes Lafontaine. America is the root of evil for him, and Europe must find its own way.
Judging by the past century, it would be wise for Europeans not to go along with him and admit that only they themselves are to blame for their current troubles.