BRUSSELS, 15 (EUROPA PRESS) - The leaders of the European Union (EU) coincided this Thursday, upon their arrival at the summit they are holding in Brussels, in requesting a common response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) with a package of 369,000 million dollars in subsidies to boost investment in the United States, something that both the Member States and Brussels consider detrimental to European industry.

In this sense, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, stressed that the letter sent yesterday by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, "goes in the right direction" by proposing a "European sovereign wealth fund" that functions as Community financial instrument to counteract the effect of the US rule.

"We need an equal competition and defend our green technology project," said the French leader, who has called for a response to "strengthen" the European industry and keep it "competitive."

Along the same lines, the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, has called for a European "common response" to the issue of subsidies, instead of applying aid at the national level, warning that in this environment there is a risk that Europe deindustrialize. "It seems like a game of who has the biggest pocket, in the end we have pressure from the United States and we need a response that respects the single market, which is our greatest asset and we have to preserve it," he stressed.

For his part, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has welcomed "with satisfaction" the fact that the United States is transforming its economy to help stop man-made climate change and modernize but has warned that, at the same time, must do so "in a way that does not affect Europe's competitiveness". "There is no doubt that we will talk about it often and repeatedly," he has advanced.

Meanwhile, his Lithuanian counterpart, Gitanas Nauseda, has urged to resolve this issue in a united manner and maintaining solidarity between the United States and Europe. "You have to study case by case and there is a working group that will give guidance on January," he defended, insisting that inflation in Lithuania is above 20 percent and is causing great concern.

For the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, the issue must be addressed using the remainder of other funds and review existing mechanisms to ensure that they are disbursed more quickly. "We are not big fans of using new money," the Dutch liberal ironized.

"I have the impression that all the Member States are on the same page," stressed the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who has advocated seeking "rebalancing" with the United States, as well as with China, and has called on the leaders to give a "signal" on Thursday that the EU stands together to protect the economic environment.