Pressured by Germany, the EU forged ahead with an investment d | .

Pressured by Germany, the EU forged ahead with an investment deal with China in December, ignoring requests by the incoming Biden administration to at least wait a few weeks until it was up and running.

The bloc has also pursued its own course on Russia, dispatching its foreign policy chief to Moscow just days after Russia sentenced opposition leader Alexey Navalny to nearly three years in a penal colony. The trip, which turned into a PR disaster for the EU, came just as Biden wanted to show that his administration could build a united Western front against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The worsening spat between Washington and Berlin over Germany’s pursuit of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline coupled with Biden’s “Made In America” initiative to protect U.S. industry from foreign imports have also put a damper on relations between the new administration and Europe.

For the U.S., Europe represents not just America’s most important trading partner, but a strategic linchpin in confronting global adversaries from Russia to China to Islamic terror. That’s why bringing Europe back onside is essential for Biden if his foreign policy agenda is to succeed.

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