Practical information

For this very special July 14, the French Embassy is celebrating “Bastille Day” online:

At 5:00 p.m. Washington DC time, find the festivities on the Embassy’s website, including the Ambassador’s speech and guest speakers, including astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who will be speaking from Houston.

You will be able to connect in the morning to discover the surprises: music, culture, gastronomy and competitions. Many prizes will be offered throughout the day: French cheeses, vouchers for French food products and even, free access to the Ubisoft video game ” Assassin’s Creed: Unity – Bastille Edition “.

This is what is called an eventful arrival. Barely arrived in post last summer, Ambassador Philippe Etienne had to tackle very heavy files. While in October 2019, the United States announced customs taxes on European products, including cheese and French wine, since March 2020, the embassy has been drowned in emails from French nationals worried about their future in the midst of a pandemic. of Covid-19.

Before arriving across the Atlantic, this ENA graduate cut his teeth in Europe, starting with Belgrade, before donning the costume of ambassador to Germany between 2014 and 2017. In April 2017, he was appointed diplomatic adviser and Sherpa of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron. And for a year, he has deposited his bags in Washington DC, succeeding the flamboyant ambassador Gérard Araud, known for his scathing tweets.

A great country to discover

I have the challenge of discovering the United States, a country that I don’t know very well, so it’s my motivation to understand this country ”, he confides. “The continuation and deepening of the relationship between Europe and the United States is an essential dimension of my work here ”.

The ambassador very quickly sets out to conquer this new territory, trip after trip, meeting after meeting. He underlines “the importance of states ” which he discovered during a stay in California and New York. “I met French people and the specificity of the states in which they live ”. There is a difference between “the French in tech in San Francisco or the Napa Valley in wine ”, or, “in Boston, with biotechnology research ”. He enjoys this diversity and hopes to build on this American advantage.

Working with the Trump administration

The difficulty for the United States for an ambassador is to work with the American administration. “You have to know how to get in touch with the White House because everything is attached to it ”, he explains. As he recalls, “transatlantic relations are many foreign policy challenges and difficult subjects, such as the Syrian crisis ”.

Regarding customs duties, they are commercial differences ”, he explains. For the ambassador, it is clear that the United States cannot do without France, and vice versa. “It should be noted that in 2019, France is the most attractive country in Europe for foreign investment, knowing that the United States is number 1 ″. In an embassy report, it is pointed out that France has created 800,000 jobs by being the 3rd investor in the United States.

The pandemic has added a new and unprecedented challenge for the Ambassador. With the suspension of visas and travel, consulate and embassy services are working hand in hand to deal with the many requests for assistance and questions from the French in the United States. “We plead with the Americans, when we have to successfully revive our economies, we must allow people exemptions ”, indicated Philippe Etienne, an objective which he pursues with other European States. What about separated families or other individual cases? “We try to highlight all the humanitarian cases that may arise ”, he stressed.

United States from Washington DC

With the cancellation of his trips due to the pandemic, the ambassador took the opportunity to discover the capital. “Washington is a very green city ”, he notes. He was immediately impressed by “cultural resources with museums” and his “living heritage ”, with the Library of Congress and the Archives.

Last October, he still remembers the Halloween party at the French Embassy, ​​“a real discovery ”, he laughs. And for the future? At 64, he confides that “çthis could be my last job, two and a half years from retirement ”.

For this July 14th, Philippe Etienne says to himself “proud of the solidarity that was expressed during the pandemic through actions and deeds that helped in everyday life ”, an event that deeply marked the French community in the United States, and gave birth to new initiatives.

Practical information

For this very special July 14, the French Embassy is celebrating “Bastille Day” online:

At 5:00 p.m. Washington DC time, find the festivities on the Embassy’s website, including the Ambassador’s speech and guest speakers, including astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who will be speaking from Houston.

You will be able to connect in the morning to discover the surprises: music, culture, gastronomy and competitions. Many prizes will be offered throughout the day: French cheeses, vouchers for French food products and even, free access to the Ubisoft video game ” Assassin’s Creed: Unity – Bastille Edition “.

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