Macron names PM, meets with Merkel
BERLIN — French President Emmanuel Macron hit the ground running Monday onhis first full day in office by naming a prime minister from the center-right and then flying to Germany, where he and Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to work together to undertake European overhauls.
At home, Mr. Macron appointed relatively littleknown lawmaker Edouard Philippe, 46, as his prime minister. That made good on a promise to repopulate French politics with new faces and reinforced the generational shift under Mr. Macron, who at 39 is France’s youngest president.
A large crowd outside the chancellery welcomed Mr. Macron to Berlin, with some waving European Union flags. Mr. Macron and Ms. Merkel were all smiles, and the German leader declared that “Europe will only do well if there is a strong France, and I am committed to that.”
Germany and France have traditionally been the motor of European integration, but the relationship has become increasingly lopsided in recent years as France struggled economically.
German leaders were hugely relieved by the independent centrist’s rout of farright rival Marine Le Pen in the May 7 presidential runoff, and now they hope that Mr. Macron can deliver the economic upturn that his pre decessors couldn’t.
Mr. Macron is the conservative Ms. Merkel’s fourth French president in nearly 12 yearsas chancellor.
Ms. Merkel called for “new dynamism” in the countries’ relationship.
The 28-nation EU faces complex divorce proceedings with Britain, its current No. 2 economy. When Britain leaves the bloc in 2019, France will be the EU’s only member with nuclear weapons and a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
Mr. Macron made clear his determination to tackle his country’s problems.
France, he said, “is today the only big country in the European Union that, for more than 30 years, has not succeeded in beating the problem of mass unemployment.”
Mr. Macron also declared there needs to be “a Europe that protects our citizens better.” Together with Germany, he said, he wants to work on “a common road map for the European Union andthe eurozone.”
Mr. Macron faces his first big test next month in legislative elections that will determine how far he is able to advance his overhaul agenda. He is the first president of modern France to come neither from the mainstream left northe right parties.
Mr. Philippe, the mayor of the Normandy port of Le Havre, is a trained lawyer and a member of the Republicans, a mainstream-right party whose candidate Mr. Macron beat in the first roundof the election. Mr. Philippe could possibly attract other Republicans to Mr. Macron’s cause.
Ms. Merkel wished Mr. Macron luck in the legislative elections.
She held out the possibility of deep overhaul to the 19-nation eurozone if it is deemed necessary, saying she’s prepared to talk about changes to the EU treaties.
Mr. Macron reassured Germany that he wouldn’t revive the idea of jointly issued eurobonds, which divided Europe at the height of the eurozone debt crisis.