Amsterdam/Paris, 11 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) - French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his call for greater "European sovereignty" while speaking on Tuesday in the Netherlands.

In the eagerly awaited speech, Macron said that both the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made it clear that Europe needs to reduce its dependencies in order to maintain its identity.

"Pandemic and war just pushed us in a situation to discover that we have to reduce our dependencies if you want to preserve the European identity," Macron said during a speech given in The Hague.

"It means that we must be able to choose our partners and shape our own destiny, rather than being, I would say, a mere witness of the dramatic evolution of this world," he said.

That can be achieved, Macron said, "in a cooperative manner in keeping with our spirit of openness and partnership."

Macron's remarks during his two-day state visit to the Netherlands come amid sharp criticism of earlier comments about Europe's relationship with China, Taiwan and the United States.

Macron said last week that Europe should avoid involvement the conflict between China and Taiwan and that Europe should instead become a third pole between China and the United States, Taiwan's most important ally.

Beijing insists that Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, is part of its territory, even though Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949.

Tensions are rising in the Taiwan Strait following a meeting by Taiwan's president with a US lawmaker in California, as Beijing seeks to isolate Taiwan internationally.

In his speech on Tuesday, Macron also endorsed a stronger, more robust European industrial policy aimed at boosting European production and reducing trade dependencies on other parts of the world.

"The US has an [industrial policy] and is strengthening it, China has one," Macron said. "We need a European one."

The French president pointed out that the EU had largely freed itself from its energy dependency on Russia following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and argued Europe should continue down that path.

"We need to build a new strategy that will increasingly reduce our dependencies and build more sovereignty in energy," Macron said.

Macron and his wife, Brigitte, arrived in the Netherlands earlier on Tuesday for the first official state visit by a French president to the Netherlands in 23 years.

The couple was greeted by the Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Máxima in Amsterdam. It is the first state visit by a French president to the Netherlands in 23 years.

A 42-gun salute by French and Dutch naval vessels also greeted the French president's arrival in Amsterdam. Macron's itinerary for Tuesday included laying a wreath at the National Memorial to War Victims in Amsterdam.

Macron planned to meet with representatives of the Dutch parliament in The Hague on Tuesday and is scheduled to attend a gala dinner at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam in the evening.

For the second day of his visit, Dutch-French government consultations are scheduled.

Photo: MIA Archive