On the occasion of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s visit to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy and the State Visit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France, the United States is taking steps to deepen our relationship with France. As America’s oldest Ally – for nearly 250 years – France has been a likeminded and dependable partner in all of the world’s greatest challenges. In December 2022, President Biden hosted President Macron at the White House for the first State Visit of the Biden-Harris Administration. Since then, U.S. and French counterparts have continued to work closely to advance both Presidents’ vision to strengthen security and increase prosperity worldwide, combat climate change, build greater resilience to its effects, and advance democratic values. Today, President Biden and President Macron will meet in Paris, at the Elysée Palace, to discuss and deepen U.S.-France cooperation across a broad range of regional and thematic topics.
Since the December 2022 State Visit in Washington, D.C., the United States and France have announced many new and continuing initiatives, some of which are listed here.
SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENT, SPACE, & TECHNOLOGY
- Furthering their commitment to develop and promote clean energy, the United States and France launched the U.S.-France Bilateral Clean Energy Partnership in Paris on December 14, 2021. This forum met again in Washington, D.C. on October 27, 2022 and May 22, 2024 in Paris, France. The United States and France also launched the Nuclear Energy Small Group, with meetings July 6, 2023 in Paris and March 5, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
- Following the November 2021 commitment by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and French President Emmanuel Macron to ensure a whole-of-government approach to bilateral space cooperation, the United States and France launched the U.S.-France Comprehensive Dialogue on Space. The first meeting occurred November 10, 2022, Paris, France and the second meeting recently took place in Washington, D.C. on March 20-21, 2024.
- On December 16, 2022, a SpaceX rocket carrying a U.S.-French satellite with Surface Water Ocean Topography technology, designed to conduct the first global survey of Earth’s surface waters, launched from California.
- The James Webb Space Telescope, an international partnership between NASA and European Space Agency, with the support of French National Centre for Space Studies for the launched the Mid-Infrared Instrument in December 2021, with regular discoveries between 2022 and 2024.
- The United States and France have continued a regular sequence of cyber dialogues with the most recent, the sixth U.S.-France Bilateral Cyber Dialogue, on March 11-12, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
- The United States and France signed a joint statement to enhance cooperation on Quantum in November 30, 2022, which built upon several agreements to enhance U.S.-France cooperation in science and technology, including an Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation that was signed in Paris in October 2018, and a 2021 Joint Statement on Science and Technology Cooperation that explicitly named quantum information science as an area where both sides endorsed continued research cooperation.
DEFENSE & SECURITY
- The U.S. and French Special Forces signed a statement of intent in March 2024 to enhance their cooperation.
- The U.S. Navy and French Navy met for the Second U.S.-French bilateral Strategic Dialogue on naval interoperability on June 13-14, 2023, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
- The United States held consultations with France on the Indo-Pacific in February 22, 2024, Washington, D.C., leading to the inaugural Indo-Pacific Dialogue with France on May 3, 2024 in Paris, led by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The next Dialogue will take place later in 2024. The third U.S.-France Indo-Pacific Strategic Dialogue between the Department of Defense and Ministry of Armed Forces took place on February, 8, 2023.
BUSINESS & TRADE
- To facilitate travel for French traders and investors coming to the United States, the United States extended the validity of E1 and E2 visas to four years effective November 21, 2023.
- To strengthen cooperation between France and the United States in customs matters and improve the facilitation of travelers and goods, U.S. and French counterparts signed a joint declaration of intent to strengthen Franco-American Customs Cooperation on May 23, 2024.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
- To reinforce our shared commitment to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Agence Francaise de Developpement intend to establish a new approach to development coordination in the Indo-Pacific region.
- The United States and France are building on longstanding collaboration in global health, and have been active in transforming the global financing architecture for global health, including to address pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The United States welcomes France’s leadership in hosting the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, replenishment launch event and in co-hosting, alongside the African Union and Gavi, the launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator and Gavi’s Investment Opportunity for 2026–2030 on June 20, 2024. The United States is committed to sustaining its longstanding support for Gavi and intends to make a multi-year pledge in support of this year’s replenishment, which we hope will leverage ambitious contributions from other donors. The United States and France support resource mobilization for the Pandemic Fund and are working, under Italy’s G7 Presidency, to expand access to surge financing for medical countermeasures through their development finance institutions.
- The United States participated in the International Humanitarian Conference on Sudan, hosted by France, Germany, and the European Commission on April 15, 2024.
FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURE
- The United States and France are committed to mobilizing the international community around the issue of malnutrition in order to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome France hosting the 2025 Paris Nutrition for Growth Summit.
- The French Ministry of Agriculture National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment and the USDA’s Economic Research Service jointly organized a workshop, opening a dialogue on research collaboration on August 29, 2023.
- The USDA Agricultural Research Service, Agropolis International, and French partners in Montpellier organized a workshop on Insect Transmitted Plant Vascular Bacterial Diseases, catalyzing collaboration on several projects on August 20, 2023.
JUSTICE / LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Cooperation between U.S. and French law enforcement and judicial offices led to the founder and majority owner of Bitzlato, a Cryptocurrency Exchange, being charged with unlicensed money transmitting on January 18, 2023.
- U.S. and French justice cooperation led to Nikolaos “Nikos” Bogonikolos, a Greek national, being arrested in Paris for wire fraud and smuggling on May 16, 2023.
EDUCATION
- The U.S.-French Fulbright Program celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023.
- In December 2022, the United States and France announced the Generation250 student exchange program. Generation250 sends 250 French students to study or intern in the United States and 250 American students to study or intern in France. The United States and France commit to continuing to expand student exchanges.
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