Germany’s Merkel sees work ahead to repair relations with U.S.

Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear that even with Donald Trump no longer president, Europe’s relationship with the U.S had changed and that the continent had to take on more collective responsibility.

In private, she told senior figures within her Christian Democratic party that a plan with the U.S. was needed to reset ties beyond the next four years and look ahead to 2030, according to an official familiar with her remarks.

“The United States and Germany as part of the EU have to stand together to overcome the big challenges of our times,” Merkel said in a brief public statement on Monday without taking questions. “We have to stand side by side in the difficult test of the coronavirus pandemic, side by side in the fight against global warming and its global effects, in the fight against terrorism, side by side for an open global economy and free trade.”

Merkel’s somber comments marked a notable departure from four years ago, when she used the occasion to remind Trump of America’s responsibility on the global stage and lecture him on democratic standards. Now, she’s taking on board the prospect that the U.S.’s disengagement is something likely to stay.

“We Germans and we Europeans know that we have to take on more responsibility within this partnership in the 21st century,” she said. “America is and continues to be our most important ally, but it expects from us—and rightly so—more efforts to take care of our security and stand up for our convictions in the world.”

Merkel was quick to congratulate Joe Biden on winning the election on Saturday, saying the U.S.-German ties are “indispensable if we are to face the greatest challenges of our time.”

As a sign of its change of approach with the new U.S. leadership, Germany is backing a push to delay European Union tariffs set to hit $4 billion of American products as soon as Tuesday, according to a senior official familiar with the government’s thinking.

Beyond trade, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said over the weekend that Germany would make “concrete proposals” to Washington on how to improve cooperation and that a “new deal” was needed.

“We will need to strengthen the European pillar within NATO and that’s one offer there will be because we know the U.S. won’t fundamentally turn its foreign and security policy on its head under Biden,” Maas said Monday in an interview on Deutschlandfunk radio. “The U.S. won’t be the world police anymore.”