Au Revoir Britannia by Sylvie Bermann sampler

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au revoir britannia France and the European Union will have to decide how to approach this question. It would be a mistake to join a particular camp on the basis of a Pavlovian reflex without taking our own interests into account. We have become accustomed to think in terms of a systematic alliance and friendship with the United States, but our interests do not automatically coincide. It is not acceptable for Washington to use extraterritorial sanctions to dictate with which countries members of the European Union may trade. NATO, American to the core, is an instrument that Washington now intends to use against China. China is no doubt a systemic rival of the United States but is it really also of Europe? It is of course a competitor and its interests, especially commercial ones, can clash with ours. We should react by ensuring that we possess all the instruments we need to defend ourselves, and we should not be afraid to use them. But let us beware of ‘China bashing’ that would turn a competitor into an enemy. No one would be the winner. After the divisions and mistakes made in managing the health crisis, the European Union is returning to its core competencies: the economy and growth. Because size is all-important, the EU, as the biggest trading block in the world with its 450 million inhabitants, bestows a multiplier effect to the benefit of each member state, large or small, in their dealings with the continent-sized countries. The key here is strategic autonomy, meaning greater autonomy in terms of defence and of trade policy. Technological sovereignty is also of crucial importance. It is striking to note that during lockdown, the digital application that made it possible to continue working was Zoom, an American invention created in Silicon Valley by a Chinese man from the province of Shandong. Europe simply cannot afford to stand on the sidelines of technological innovation. It is true that room for manoeuvre for the European Union is small, between the risks of American paranoia and Chinese hubris. But small changes to these positions are possible, in the case of America because of the wish to have the support 44
introduction of allies and the desire to prioritise diplomacy, and in the case of China, by the realisation that arrogance and aggression are counter-productive, giving rise as they do to unprecedented distrust of China on the part of Western nations. If it reforms itself and strengthens its solidarity and cohesion, particularly within the Eurozone, the EU might be able to play the role of mediator between the two elephants, as it did at the World Assembly of the WHO in May 2020. Things have already changed, with the formation of a recovery and assistance fund for the most vulnerable countries. Additionally, the very end of 2020 saw the signature of an agreement with Beijing on investments enabling improved access to the Chinese market and the taking into account of European concerns, despite pressure from the Americans. But the two major continent-sized countries have time on their side: the United States because of hegemonic instruments such as the dollar, and China, the only G20 country to have returned to growth in 2020, because it can continue to implement its global strategy in full without the electoral constraint of having to please public opinion. The United Kingdom will be faced with the same dilemma as Europe, with which, like it or not, its destiny is linked. In the game of power-play, it will be difficult for it to go it alone. It will be tempted to lean towards the American position over which, however, it will have no influence. The type of relationships, economic and other, that it maintains with the European Union will be the key to its success in the post-Brexit era. 45
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Au Revoir Britannia by Sylvie Bermann sampler

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