Deadly Israeli airstrikes pound Gaza as Doha talks raise hopes for ceasefire    Egypt accelerates coastal protection projects amid rising climate threats    Egypt's PM calls Israeli war on Gaza 'most dangerous crisis' at BRICS summit    Egypt's FinMin urges BRICS to support debt sustainability    Egypt's gold prices up on July 6th    Venezuela vows to uphold sovereignty on 214th independence anniversary    ADIB Egypt publishes second sustainability report for 2024    Egypt, Saudi FMs discuss Gaza truce, Iran-Israel tensions    Over 215,000 projects funded under Mashrouak, exceeding EGP 33bn in May: Minister    Egypt, Norway hold informal talks ahead of global plastic treaty negotiations    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    UN conference cites Egypt's 'NWFE' programme as model for development finance    Global tour for Korean 'K-Comics' launches in Cairo with 'Hellbound' exhibition    China's factory output expands in June '25    Philip Morris Misr announces new price list effective 1 July    Egypt teams up with private sector to boost university rankings    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger    Egypt's FM, China's Wang discuss Iran-Israel escalation    Egypt's EHA, Schneider Electric sign MoU on sustainable infrastructure    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Grand Egyptian Museum opening delayed to Q4    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's EDA joins high-level Africa-Europe medicines regulatory talks    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



France rallies EU as trust in US, UK and Australia wanes
Published in Ahram Online on 21 - 09 - 2021

France on Tuesday urged its European Union partners to consider whether to delay negotiations on the bloc's future trade agreement with Australia over what Paris says is a lack of trust sparked by a major defense deal between the U.S., Australia and Britain.
French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said he would raise the trade pact and the security implications of the deal, known as AUKUS, at a meeting with his counterparts in Brussels, and that France would ensure that it is discussed at EU summits and ministerial meetings next month.
The Indo-Pacific security pact will see Australia cancel a multi-billion-dollar contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines and acquire U.S. nuclear-powered vessels instead. The French government is suggesting it was betrayed by the deal, which comes in the run-up to elections in France in April.
``It's a matter of trust,'' Beaune told reporters. ``When you have your word, it has some value between allies, between democracies, between partners and in this case this word was not respected... so of course it creates a breach of trust.''
``We have to be firm, not as French but as Europeans, because it's a matter of the way we work together as allies,'' he said.
Asked whether France would call a halt to the trade talks with Australia, which have been underway since 2018, Beaune said ``that is among the points that we must discuss together.''
The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, conducts trade talks based on a mandate it receives from the 27 member countries. The commission routinely informs the countries about progress, but they are not directly involved even though they can delay progress.
However, any trade pact must be endorsed unanimously, so individual countries have a veto.
The Europeans see the previously unannounced security deal as the second time in weeks that President Joe Biden has focused on an ``America First'' policy, similar in substance if not in tone to his predecessor Donald Trump, following the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan late last month.
It's raised questions about Europe's ability to provide for its own security outside of the U.S.-led NATO and resulted in appeals for the EU to develop a ``strategic autonomy'' from the military alliance that breaks with the dependence on American military and logistical muscle.
Germany's European Affairs Minister, Michael Roth, said he has ``great understanding for the disappointment felt by our French partners.''
``It's once more a wake-up call for all of us in the European Union to ask how we can strengthen our sovereignty, how can we stand as one even in question related to foreign and security policy, and how can we use our economic and political clout in such a way that we can contribute to security and multilateralism so that our values are firmly anchored at the global level,'' Roth said.
For France and its partners, the crisis straining U.K.-EU relations since Britain left the bloc is also a question of trust, and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic was to update the ministers on trade developments for Northern Ireland, which has a land border with the EU.
``We see it with Brexit, we see it with the AUKUS project that we need trust, we need to rebuild confidence,'' Beaune said. ``We see when we look at the Brexit agreements that they are not well implemented, that they are not fully respected.''
But the ruckus also comes amid a busy election campaign period in Europe. Germans go to the polls on Sunday and France is holding elections in April. Several officials have suggested that it's probably a question of waiting ``for the dust to settle'' from the AUKUS deal before calm is restored.
Member countries bordering Russia, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, count on the security guarantee provided by the U.S. through NATO and they are likely to put the brakes on any moves that might complicate relations.
``What is important is to keep trans-Atlantic unity, because we believe this is our biggest strength and biggest value, especially vis-a-vis such countries as Russia and China,'' Lithuanian deputy European Affairs Minister Arnoldas Prankevicius told reporters.


Clic here to read the story from its source.