Germany hits brakes on Macron’s European dream

BERLIN: French President Emmanuel Macron’s vision for a stronger European Union may be in tatters, as a growing rift emerges with Germany on everything from defence to his plans for deeper eurozone integration.

Less than a year after his stunning election win on a pro-EU platform, Macron’s hopes of pushing through his bold post-Brexit reforms with Chancellor Angela Merkel by his side are facing a cold dose of reality.

Macron’s European initiative is “as dead as a dormouse,” the Der Spiegel newspaper wrote ahead of the Frenchman’s visit to Berlin today, a chance for both leaders to take stock of the stalled reform process.

The talks come as differences between the neighbours were thrown into stark relief in recent days, when Berlin – but not Paris – chose to sit out the biggest Western intervention yet in the Syrian war.

And while Macron laid out his lofty reform goals in a passionate speech to the European Parliament, Merkel’s own party publicly pushed back against his proposals for a eurozone budget and an expansion of the EU’s bailout fund.

Merkel nevertheless said she remained convinced both sides would find “common solutions” before an EU summit in June.

“Things are moving at a snail’s pace, if at all,” said Stefani Weiss, an analyst at the Bertelsmann Foundation think tank.

“I think we’ll end up with only very modest reforms.”