Emmanuel Macron will pay a state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first by a French president since 2000, a sign of a new dynamic between the two countries since the Brexit tipping point, the Elysee said on Thursday.
President Macron will be accompanied by his wife Brigitte and seven ministers (Foreign and European Affairs, Armed Forces, Interior, Energy Transition, Industry, Research and Transport).
“It is the expression of a Franco-Dutch rapprochement, it was time to recognize it, the result of a form of European tectonics”, stressed the French presidency.
New European cooperation
With Brexit, the Netherlands lost an important ally within the European Union, which led them to seek other cooperation.
“Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, positions have converged”, especially on European sovereignty, the Elysee still points out, where The Hague was traditionally perceived as “more liberal and economic” and Paris more “solidarity and protectionist”.
The visit will include a more solemn part on Tuesday, with official ceremonies and a state dinner at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam at the invitation of King Willem-Alexander and his wife Máxima.
The French president will also deliver a speech on “European economic and industrial sovereignty” at the Nexus Institute on Tuesday in The Hague.
On this occasion, he will present “a doctrine of economic security” against China, from which he has just returned, and the United States, actively engaged in the development of its green industry.
On Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron will visit the quantum physics laboratories at the University of Amsterdam and then hold intergovernmental consultations with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, his third since 2021.
Signing of an “innovation pact”
The two countries will sign a “pact for innovation and sustainable growth”, with the key to cooperation in semiconductors, quantum physics and energy, all areas in which the EU intends to strengthen its independence.
French STMicroeletronics and Dutch ASLM, two European semiconductor heavyweights, already have joint projects.
On the quantum side, the Research Ministers of the two countries will sign an agreement to strengthen the coordination of the French and Dutch “ecosystems”.
In this field, the French start-up Pasqal, founded by the Nobel Prize winner in Physics Alain Aspect, has merged with the Dutch Qu&Co to create a European leader.
The two governments will also work to finalize a defense deal by 2024.
The French Naval Group is also competing – with Germany’s ThyssenKrupp and Sweden’s Kockums – for the delivery of four submarines to the Netherlands. “The issue could be raised by President Macron during the visit,” said a source familiar with the matter.
Source: BFM TV
