Officials in Europe are getting fed up with President Joe Biden and the U.S. under his leadership over Ukraine.
“The fact is, if you look at it soberly, the country that is most profiting from this war is the U.S. because they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons,” one senior official told Politico.
“We are really at a historic juncture,” the official added before complaining about trade disruption from U.S. subsidies and high energy prices. “America needs to realize that public opinion is shifting in many EU countries.”
The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, noted: “Americans, our friends, take decisions which have an economic impact on us.”
“The United States sells us its gas with a multiplier effect of four when it crosses the Atlantic,” added European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton. “Of course, the Americans are our allies, but when something goes wrong, it is necessary also between allies to say it.”
Other European officials were furious with Biden over trade and subsidy policies he and the Democratic-controlled Congress implemented.
“The Inflation Reduction Act is very worrying,” offered Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher. “The potential impact on the European economy is very big.”
“The U.S. is following a domestic agenda, which is regrettably protectionist and discriminates against U.S. allies,” Tonino Picula, the European Parliament’s lead official on the transatlantic relationship, said.
“The Inflation Reduction Act has changed everything,” one EU diplomat told Politico. “Is Washington still our ally or not?”
Politico reported:
It wasn’t until Washington announced a $369 billion industrial subsidy scheme to support green industries under the Inflation Reduction Act that Brussels went into full-blown panic mode.
For Biden, the legislation is a historic climate achievement.
“While we understand that some trading partners have concerns with how the [electric vehicle] tax credit provisions in the IRA will operate in practice with respect to their producers, we are committed to continuing to work with them to better understand and do what we can to address their concerns,” the NSC spokesperson said.
“This is not a zero-sum game. The IRA will grow the pie for clean energy investments, not split it.”
But the EU sees that differently. An official from France’s foreign affairs ministry said the diagnosis is clear: These are “discriminatory subsidies that will distort competition.”
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire this week even accused the U.S. of going down China’s path of economic isolationism, urging Brussels to replicate such an approach. “Europe must not be the last of the Mohicans,” he said.
Meanwhile, other European officials are issuing warnings to Americans regarding the Democratic effort to rapidly move the U.S. to a “green” energy foundation.
Germany are other nations are reopening coal plants and rationing energy to avoid winter blackouts, as former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson reports in her upcoming episode of “Full Measure.”
She asked a European leader in London what the U.S. could learn from Europe.
“Europe is much further ahead” on the green transition, he said in an excerpt from the interview to be run Sunday. “We’ve spent much more, we’ve learned much more.
“The experiment has been disastrous.”
Since about 2008, Europe has spent nearly $800 billion subsidizing renewable energy.
“The costs have not fallen, we’ve not got a green industry,” he said. “All we’ve done is increased consumer costs dramatically.”
WATCH:
This week on Full Measure — We report from Europe, where an energy crisis is changing the script on green power. pic.twitter.com/sjYgIzLXWz
— Sharyl Attkisson ??????? (@SharylAttkisson) November 25, 2022
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.