European Union sighs with relief as Biden readies to enter White House

Gulf Today Report

The European Union hailed Joe Biden's inauguration later on Wednesday as a "new dawn" for Europe and the United States, but they warned that the world has changed after four years of Donald Trump and that trans-Atlantic ties will be different in the future.

The EU and the United States are the world's top trading powers, along with China, and have close cultural, historical, business and defence ties, but Donald Trump sought to sideline the EU, championing Britain's departure from the bloc.

"This new dawn in America is the moment we’ve been awaiting for so long,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, hailing Biden’s arrival as "resounding proof that, once again after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House.”

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"The United States are back, and Europe stands ready to reconnect with an old and trusted partner to breathe new life into our cherished alliance,” she told EU lawmakers, hours before Biden was to be sworn in at his inauguration ceremony in Washington.

Expressing relief at the end of four years of Trump's "America First" policy, the EU's chief executive and chairman told the European Parliament that shaping new global digital regulation together was paramount.

"This new dawn in America is the moment we've been waiting for," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. But she also cautioned: "This sense of relief ... should not lead us to making any illusions. Trump may be consigned to history in a few hours, but his followers remain."

Joe Biden speaks during an election rally. File photo

Von der Leyen said that while it might not be possible "to completely eliminate any of these dark forces" of the kind of incitement that led to the storming of the US Capital on Jan. 6, hate speech and fake news must not be allowed to circulate freely on the internet.

"This political power, unbridled power held by the big internet giants must be reined in," Von der Leyen said.

EU lawmakers are debating new digital policy that would have implications for Google, Facebook and Apple , but without major technology companies of its own, the European Union's digital privacy and antitrust regulation can only go so far.

Von der Leyen proposed in her speech setting up a EU-US Common Technology Council as a first step to draw up a template for global digital regulation that others around the world could follow.

US President Donald Trump interacts with the media. File photo

From regulating artificial intelligence to complex algorithms based on vast amounts of data, the EU wants restrictions that would not at the same time limit the benefits of technology, such as self-driving cars or sharing data to fight diseases.

European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs EU summits in Brussels, said transatlantic priorities should also include combating COVID-19 and climate change.