Feature photo: European flags in Brussels | © Pixabay
As European policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, I am happy to comment on the current EU summit.
The Inflation Reduction Act is a problem for transatlantic relations. A solution, such as an equal treatment clause with Canada and Mexico, would be important in order to prevent the EU from being disadvantaged and companies from leaving the country.
However, the EU must not fall into an industrial policy spiral of countermeasures, subsidies and protectionism. In particular, the proposal for a debt-financed sovereignty fund would be a dead end. The EU has plenty of unused funds that it can and must use.
Instead of always new regulations and funding pots, the EU should concentrate on making its own location more attractive, strengthening the internal market and concluding more free trade agreements with value partners. It is high time to tackle the turning point in economic and trade policy together at European level.
