You are back in Brussels, ”said Council President Charles Michel when he greeted Joe Biden on Tuesday lunchtime,“ and America is back on the global stage ”.

A nice template for the American president, who repeated in the council building what he had been saying for days: "America is back." The interest in his country was "overwhelming".

But that was all that Biden had to publicly announce on Tuesday in relation to the EU.

After the two and a half hour long meeting, only the two EU leaders appeared in front of the media: Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

For a “summit” that was supposed to celebrate the renewal of relations, it seemed like an anti-climax - especially since the council had stoked for days the expectation that there would be a joint press conference.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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    Hendrik Kafsack

    Business correspondent in Brussels.

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      The last peak meeting between an American president and the EU leadership was four years ago.

      Relations had deteriorated significantly under Trump - he introduced protective tariffs on steel and aluminum, constantly threatened car tariffs and called the EU “one of his country's greatest enemies”.

      Von der Leyen recalled this when she spoke of "four difficult years" that had been behind the partners.

      On Tuesday it became clear that even if there is all sorts of progress, as easily and quickly as many Europeans would like, this time cannot be overcome.

      Dispute over state aid for Boing and Airbus postponed

      But there was a surprising sense of achievement just in time for the top meeting in the dispute about state aid for Airbus and Boeing, which had been simmering for more than a decade and a half. The negotiators for Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Trade Representative Katherine Tai did not succeed in permanently resolving the conflict by capping state aid. Instead, they agreed to put the mutually imposed state aid on hold until mid-2026. The time should be used to find a permanent solution in a new working group.

      Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the compromise as a "big step on the way to solving the longest trade conflict in the history of the WTO". She agreed with Biden in her first phone call in February to find a solution. “Today we delivered.” “We'll bring the argument back to earth,” said Dombrovskis. The agreement shows that the transatlantic relationship has reached a new level and that the EU can work successfully with the US to find solutions to long-smoldering conflicts. It also saves importers on both sides of the Atlantic billions in tariffs.

      "Instead of fighting with our closest allies, we focus on our common threat," said Tai, referring to China. The working group for the solution of the Airbus-Boeing dispute should therefore also expressly give an answer to China's non-market-economy behavior in the aviation sector and create fair competitive conditions. For some time now, China has been trying to establish its own aircraft manufacturer Comac as a competitor to Boeing and Airbus. This has apparently fueled the desire to suspend the trade conflict. Biden wants to prove that democracies can jointly withstand the challenges and threats of the new age.