Guarantees of market access and American subsidies for batteries manufactured in Europe. And the joint effort for an agreement on the raw materials necessary for the ecological transition.

There are at least two commitments that the President of the European Commission von der Leyen tears from the United States after the meeting with American President Biden at the White House. A meeting that focused above all on commercial relations. Although the face-to-face between the two heads of the executive also touches Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and independence from China.

BIDEN'S COMMITMENTS ON PUBLIC SUBSIDIES

The most delicate and complex dossier between Europe and the United States is the American Inflation Reduction Act: the maxi federal aid plan for the ecological transition, already in force. That's about $370 billion in subsidies and tax incentives to households and businesses. Which, however, in principle excluded European companies. "Positive plan," says von der Leyen, "but we need to join forces for climate change." Here then are the "guarantees" that von der Leyen said she had received from Biden to include the European-made batteries in the subsidies provided for by the plan. Von der Leyen also spoke of "important steps to start working on an agreement on critical materials, to ensure secure supply chains. And that's not all. For maximum transparency between Europe and the United States, constant coordination on clean energy incentives will begin. Finally, the United States and the European Union commit to reach the agreement on sustainable aluminum by October this year, in the context of incentivizing the production of low-emission metals both globally and bilaterally.

GREATER INDEPENDENCE FROM CHINA

The goal of the United States has been for months to decouple American production as much as possible from Chinese supplies, especially in the hi-tech sectors. This is why President Biden appreciated the case, cited in the oval office by von der Leyen, of the Netherlands that decided to block exports to Beijing of technologies for the production of microchips. And that's not all. American intelligence is convinced that China is providing military technology to Russia in support of the war effort in Ukraine. In recent days, surveys have been made with the G7 governments for possible sanctions on Chinese companies.

SUPPORT FOR KIEV

The talks also served to consolidate the Atlantic Alliance in an anti-Russian key, more than a year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "Support for Kiev will continue as long as necessary," von der Leyen said. He also spoke about sanctions against Russia: "Now the goal is to prevent Moscow from circumventing them."