Former American President Trump understood foreign policy to mean splitting and weakening other countries because he basically only knew enemies, not friends.

In the case of the EU, however, there was an implicit recognition that European unification has produced an actor that even the incumbent world power must take seriously and even regard as an equal competitor.

Many EU opponents overlook this, including in Germany.

As an economic power, the EU plays in the premier league.

The path that Trump's successor is taking towards Brussels is the more sensible one.

It sounds pathetic, but Biden is right when he says that Europe is the “natural partner” of the United States.

When the West falls apart, countries like Russia and China often benefit in the end.

This also applies to the old dispute over state aid for Boeing and Airbus, which was defused just in time for the EU-US summit in Brussels.

In other dossiers, not least with climate protection, it will remain more difficult, because despite all the friendly words there are tangible differences in interests.

But it is more important that the EU clarifies in principle where it stands in the growing American conflict with China. In the Xinjiang case, it followed Biden's sanctions, and when it came to investments it went its own way (at German request). The much-invoked unity of the West depends not only on Washington, but also on Brussels.