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Macron stresses on a “European Renaissance”

March 6, 2019 | Expert Insights

Emmanuel Macron has stepped up calls for a more united EU, laying out a series of proposals for a “European Renaissance” to fend off resurgent populists threatening to score big gains in the bloc’s elections in May 2019. 

Background 

Emmanuel Macron is a French politician serving as President of France since 2017. He previously was Minister of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs from 2014 to 2016.

He won the election on 7 May 2017 with 66.1% of the vote in the second round. At age 39, Macron became the youngest President of France in history and appointed Édouard Philippe to be Prime Minister. In the June 2017 legislative elections, Macron's party, renamed "La République en marche" (LREM), together with its ally the Democratic Movement (MoDem), secured a majority in the National Assembly.

President Macron’s La République En Marche! is a pro-European movement that accepts globalization and wants to modernize and moralize French politics. The movement generally accepts members from other parties at a higher rate than other political parties in France and does not impose any fees on members who want to join. The party is seen as the most pro-European party in France, but it is not currently part of any European parliamentary group.

Analysis 

French President Macron built on his integrationist speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris in September 2017, outlined further proposals to advance his pro-EU agenda as he lashed out at the “trap” of Brexit.

“Never since the second world war has Europe been so necessary,” he wrote in an address to the “citizens of Europe” to be published on the opinion pages of multiple newspapers on Tuesday. “And yet Europe has never been so much in danger.”

These included penalties or a ban on companies that failed to adhere to environmental norms, protect online data or pay fair taxes — and preferential treatment for local companies in strategic industries and public procurement “as is done by our American and Chinese competitors”.

Mr Macron also proposed new EU climate and environmental targets: zero net carbon emissions by 2050; a halving of pesticide use by 2025; a European climate bank to manage the transition to renewable energies; and a European health force to strengthen safety controls on food.

Brexit, Mr Macron said, symbolised the crisis facing Europe because the EU had proved incapable of meeting people’s expectations amid the shocks of the modern world and because of the lies told by those who promoted the UK’s departure from the union.

“Who told the British the truth about the post-Brexit future? Who spoke to them about losing access to the European market? Who mentioned the risks for peace in Ireland of going back to the old border?” he asked. “The withdrawal into nationalism goes nowhere. It’s just a rejection without a plan.”

Among his boldest proposals is a rethinking of the EU’s borderless Schengen area so that it falls under a new European internal security council.

In a swipe at eastern capitals such as Warsaw and Budapest that have rebelled over EU migration policy, the French president said all Schengen countries would have to accept “obligations of responsibility” like strict border protection and “solidarity” in the form of common asylum policy.

On military matters, Mr Macron called for a defence and security treaty linked to Nato and involving increased military spending, and a European security council that would tie in the UK “to prepare our collective decisions”.

Mr Macron called for a “conference for Europe” by the end of 2019 to discuss and implement more than a dozen initiatives through dialogue with citizens, businesses, and academics “with an open mind, even to amending the treaties”.

Assessment 

Our assessment is that President Macron is leading the pro-globalization, pro-EU charge against Eurosceptics in the UK and Eastern Europe who have openly defied the EU’s call to accept more refugees. We believe that the upcoming European Parliamentary Elections in May 2019 will see President Macron’s party actively campaigning for a pro-EU candidate within and outside France. 

 

Image Courtesy: ZeroTwoZero from London, United Kingdom (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_France_and_EU.jpg), „Flag of France and EU“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode