Macron will not let German poll stall EU revamp

EMMANUEL MACRON will today pledge to push on with proposals to revamp Europe, say Elysée sources, despite elections in Germany seen as a setback to the French president’s drive for greater eurozone integration.

Mr Macron is to launch a “process” to deepen economic and monetary union at a speech in Sorbonne University, Paris, which Elysée sources insist has not been scuppered by Sunday’s election results in Germany.

Angela Merkel won a fourth term as chancellor but her party suffered its worst score since 1949, forcing her to forge an unlikely coalition with the Greens and Free Democrats (FDP), fierce critics of Mr Macron’s ideas for Europe.

Mr Macron has called for a finance minister, a budget for the single currency bloc running into several GDP points, and even a microparliament for the eurozone.

The ideas had already received a fairly lukewarm response from Mrs Merkel.

Christian Lindner, FDP leader, has rejected the idea of creating a centralised eurozone budget to smooth out national economic crises, saying German money must not be used for “French public spending or fixing Berlusconi’s mistakes” in Italy. Mrs Merkel struck a reserved tone yesterday, saying she would “support what makes sense”, but adding: “We can use more Europe, but this has to lead to more competitiveness, more jobs and more clout for the EU.”

Alluding to Mr Macron’s forthcoming speech, she said: “It is not about the slogans but what lies behind them. I am talking about this with the French president.”

Christian Odendahl, the senior economist at the Centre for European Reform in Berlin, said there was still a “fundamental difference” in view between France and Germany, which is demanding that any burden-sharing must be accompanied by measures to tighten control over national fiscal policies. “I don’t think his eurozone reforms will go very far now,” he predicted. “Macron will be disappointed.”

An Elysée source insisted that a eurozone budget would be “necessary in due course” and that Mr Macron would therefore raise the issue.

Senior FDP sources said they could support a re-start in stalled Franco-german cooperation.

‘I don’t think his eurozone reforms will go very far now, he’ll be disappointed’