France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, has asked Europe to focus on lowering its dependence on the U.S dollar.
France's 🇫🇷 President, Macron, has said that Europe must reduce its dependency on the United States for weapons, energy, and the 'extra-territoriality' of the US 🇺🇸 Dollar. #Dollar pic.twitter.com/4wgZeB7tl7
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) April 9, 2023
During a recent interview with Politico magazine, President Macron suggested that European leaders should loosen their connections with America and instead concentrate on avoiding any potential conflict between China and the U.S regarding Taiwan.
Regarding the global dependency on the dollar, Macron specifically stated that Europe should reduce its need to depend on the “extra-territoriality of the U.S dollar.”
In addition, Macron pointed out that Europe’s reliance on the U.S extended to energy and military sectors, and he proposed strengthening the development of European alternatives in these areas. He warned that such a dependence can have repercussions in future.
“If the tensions between the two superpowers heat up… we won’t have the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals.”
Macron said these remarks after his 3-day visit to China during which he had a significant meeting with Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
According to Macron, Europe needs to be a third superpower and take the lead on issues, with France the anchor, Politico reported.
“The paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America’s followers,” Macron said in the interview.
“The question Europeans need to answer … is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? No. The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S agenda and a Chinese overreaction,” he said.
Over the past few years, the U.S has imposed sanctions on countries such as Russia, China, and Iran, which have been aimed at restricting their access to the primary dollar-denominated global financial system. Some in Europe have criticized the ‘weaponization’ of the dollar by the U.S. which has forced European companies to sever ties with third countries or risk facing crippling secondary sanctions.
France holds a distinctive military position as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the only nuclear power in the EU while it has strong trade ties with China. In 2019, China became the largest source of foreign investment in France, and the two countries have signed agreements on issues such as green finance, intellectual property rights, and civil aviation.
Recently, China National Offshore Oil Corporation and France’s TotalEnergies completed China’s first purchase of imported liquefied natural gas to be settled in Chinese Yuan through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange.
The Asian giant has been looking for years to establish more trade deals in Yuan to increase the relevance of its currency on the global markets and challenge the U.S. dollar’s dominance in international trade, including in energy trade.
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