PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday Europe needed an urgent response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act to ensure a future for its industry and welcomed the mandate given to the European Commission to come up with a plan early next year.
“When you have two superpowers massively subsidise some sectors, you could decide not to do anything, to respect the rules and the purity of (free-market) doctrine … but nothing much will be left (in Europe) in the end,” Macron said.
He said Europe’s response, via national and EU instruments, should amount to about 2% of its output.
“It’s not by opening our market more that we will get there,” he said, in response to a question about a possible trade deal with the United States.
(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Chris Reese)