In his recent visit to China, France’ President Emmanuel Macron stated that Europe needs to cut its dependence on the "extraterritoriality of the US dollar" for its own benefit. It is common knowledge that de-dollarization is one of the key policy ideas of China, Russia, Iran, and others. Therefore, his statement came as a surprise.
Looking into the concept of "extraterritoriality", it means the application of legal and financial regulations outside the state that has adopted them. Remarkably, the French President appeals to Europe to fight against it. In an interview for Les Echos, Macron confessed that Europe became more dependent on Washington in recent years. Europe should have been stepping up its strategic autonomy long ago and should have already solved the extraterritoriality issue, he added. Europe’s inferiority to the US is traced in many aspects ranging from the US dollar’s dominance to the energy policy. With the veto of Russian fossil energy, the EU has to admit that the White House is setting the tone for the EU political agenda. Emmanuel Macron insists that the EU countries should phase out the US dollar in the European financial system. The major goals for the economic development of the EU countries are to accelerate strategic autonomy and to back EU economies with sufficient finances.
In addition, the French leader said that Europe is going to rest its energy policy on the following issues in the nearest 10-15 years: nuclear energy, renewable energy sources, and energy saving.
Interestingly, Macron’s official trip to China followed a visit of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen to California. US-based periodical The Hill defines Macron’s visit as a step which could entail a split between the US and Europe. The Hill thinks that Macron’s talks with Xi Jinping highlight the lack of political unity between the US and the EU.
