Macron struggles to turn EU speech making into action
It was billed as his founding speech for Europe. But 12 months after newlyelected Emmanuel Macron laid out his vision for a deeper, stronger EU, the French president is fighting a lonely battle, analysts say. Over 100 minutes at the Sorbonne University in Paris, with the stars of the EU flag behind him, Macron made an impassioned plea last September for members of the bloc to go further in linking their economies, governments and armies. “When you read his speech it was clear that he wanted to lead the EU in tandem with Germany,” Judy Dempsey, an expert at the Carnegie Europe think-tank, told AFP. “He was saying to Chancellor Merkel: ‘let’s deliver together’. “And it just hasn’t happened.”
Macron had always been clear that he was banking on the “Franco-German motor,” dreaming of a partnership with Angela Merkel in Berlin along the lines of his predecessors. But many analysts believe the strategy has failed to deliver. The naturally cautious chancellor emerged weakened from elections just two days before Macron’s speech and she has since been consumed by domestic problems, particularly a toxic debate on immigration. “This speech collided with a Germany that was not at all in a position politically to respond, but it could only work with German support,” Sebastien Maillard, director of the Jacques Delors Institute think-tank, told AFP. “It’s the unfortunate thing for Macron, of not being able to find a real partner in Europe to support his vision,” he said.
Instead, the momentum across the bloc has shifted further against the 40-year-old centrist. Since the Sorbonne speech, both Italy and Austria have shifted rightwards, electing coalition governments that include eurosceptic far-right figures. France’s relations with Italy, a normally reliable ally, are increasingly hostile, while Macron has also clashed with the hard-right leaders of Hungary and Poland. “The context is difficult,” Macron conceded on the sidelines of an EU summit in Salzburg last week where he faced questions about his own domestic problems that have seen his ratings fall to historic lows.
But even if he seems to be swimming against the current, Macron will not give up the fight. “His statements on Europe are not a celebration of Europe as it is,” an aide said Tuesday. “He shares the same diagnosis (as eurosceptics) that Europe is dysfunctional, but faced with that, we have two choices: one consists of killing the system, the other reforming it profoundly.”
Real results?
The French presidency also points to concrete advances since the Sorbonne speech. Rules on the movement of EU company employees around the bloc, which France saw as being abused by businesses in low-cost eastern Europe, have been reformed under French impetus. Macron’s push for greater military collaboration also fell on fertile ground as many members fret about America’s commitment to defending the continent. Merkel too finally agreed to the principle of a eurozone budget in in June - albeit one that is limited and smaller in size than that proposed by Macron.
Other ideas, such as a fund to finance innovation in Europe or a pan-European civil defence force to respond to disasters around the EU, are also taking shape. “Sometimes there are less visible propositions, but still important ones, where there are advances,” the aide said. Overall, out of 49 proposals contained in the Sorbonne speech, Macron considers 22 are “finalized... or in the process of being finalized”, while another 18 are being discussed. Smoke and fireworks
Cynics would say that some of the “results” were already under discussion before his election, or are baby-steps towards Macron’s much more ambitious agenda. Under his original timetable, he had hoped to secure other major victories, such as a reform to European tax rules that would close unpopular loopholes used by multinationals, or a new agreement to bolster EU border controls. These advances would be part of his pitch to voters ahead of European parliament elections next year, which will be his first domestic electoral challenge. — AFP