European ambitions of Emmanuel Macron
On Monday, immediately after assuming the post of French President, Emmanuel Macron hurried to a meeting at German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In Berlin, he was received with military honors. Macron's victory in Germany was welcome. With the name of the new French president, the Germans linked the further liberalization of the global market, the promotion of such projects as the Transatlantic Trade Partnership, the strengthening of European integration processes.
What are you thinking about in Berlin?
In Germany, of course, they drew attention to the fact that in the interval between the first and second rounds of elections, Macron somewhat changed his rhetoric and spoke about the implementation of reforms of the European Union. Otherwise, he threatened to withdraw France from the European community. Macron did not explain his new thesis in detail, because German experts perceived his threat as a figure of speech.
In Berlin, they understood: in this way, Emmanuel Macron drew the voices of supporters of Marine Le Pen to him. By that time, European politicians had already formed a strong belief that Macron was a consistent supporter of the further strengthening of the European Union. Surprises from him were not expected. Moreover, many believed that, like Francois Hollande, the new French president would obediently follow in the wake of German policy and actively replicated the biting phrase of Marin Le Pen, that France would be led by a woman after France - either Le Pen herself or Chancellor Merkel.
Be that as it may, the Germans perceived the first visit of Macron to Berlin as an introductory meeting of two politicians, at which the new president of France had to enlist the support of the most influential European leader. However, the speech in Berlin went much further than ceremonial greetings.
Emmanuel Macron, as they say, took off the bat. He revealed to Angela Merkel his vision of reforms to strengthen and strengthen the European Union and the eurozone. It differs from the German perception of the European community. Over the years, Berlin has been entrenched in the image of the EU's locomotive, which has absorbed the functions of a financial sponsor, political educator, and even an auditor, imposing a new economic order and German discipline to partners. On this occasion, the experts cursed that the "fourth Reich" was being formed in Europe.
Emmanuel Macron sees Europe somewhat differently. His plans went even further than those integration schemes that were once spelled out in the Constitution of the European Union. As we remember, it was signed with great pomp, they even talked about the United States of Europe. It was in 2004 year. The draft of the constitution failed miserably. It could only be ratified in Luxembourg and Spain. The population of other countries has shown that it is not ready to blindly share national sovereignty with official Brussels.
But it is Brussels that sees the new president of France as the political, economic and power center of the European community. There is a slight clarification here. Macron’s proposals relate exclusively to countries in the euro area. According to the French reformer, they must create their own parliament, an executive power, in which the Minister of Economy and Finance (with the consent of the parliament) could manage the funds from the budgets of all 19 countries of the eurozone for investment purposes.
According to Macron, the eurozone should become the core of the EU. It is necessary to form a structural fund in it, from which then assist the partner countries that got into financial difficulties. In some ways, these proposals coincide with the already declared policy of the “Europe of two speeds”, but they made the Germans think much.
The difference of approaches lies in the fact that Berlin's financiers, in particular, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, have long and consistently advocated a budget saving regime in the partner countries. The French guest, on the contrary, proposes to invest in the development of the infrastructure of the eurozone.
“What the eurozone especially needs today,” said Emmanuel Macron in Berlin, “is a decisive investment policy, private investment, we must attract fresh investment.” Apparently, the Germans were not happy with such a proposal. Berlin commentators were quick to point out that in Macron there are more investment bankers than practical politicians. Along the way, he hints at the interest in investment projects of those banking structures in which the French president was previously able to work.
Unlike commentators, Angela Merkel could not reject from the threshold of the proposal of the French partner. She cautiously laid siege to the guest by saying that the implementation of his plans would require an audit of many European agreements. At the same time, the Chancellor emphasized: she does not object to the revision of the existing treaties, “if that would make sense.
The reservation is substantial. It reflected everything: surprise from the French application for independent political initiatives, from the unexpectedly serious agenda of the first, in fact, familiarization meeting and the need to respond to new, previously unknowledged challenges for German policy in Europe.
In the end, Merkel found herself and declared at a joint press conference that "Germany and France are not always united in everything, but they can create a symbiosis useful for cooperation both at the bilateral level and for the whole of Europe." Moreover, the Chancellor expressed her intention to prepare together with France a "road map" of reforms to strengthen the European Union. It was decided to return to this issue after the parliamentary elections in France and the formation of a new French government.
What is glorious Paris?
The dialogue in Berlin was unexpected for many. It became obvious, Macron claims its word in Europe. He sees France as a counterweight to Germany, an equal center in the balance of European forces. Fascinated by their economic success, German experts have long written off their western neighbors for second roles.
Permanently waddling out of the financial crisis into the social one and vice versa, France seemed far away from the ability to compete with the "best economy of Europe." The frankly weak political leadership complemented the sad picture. Therefore, in Berlin, the claims of Emmanuel Macron were more attributed not to the interests of France proper, but to the ambitions of those who brought the new French president to power.
Probably, in such a conspiracy there is a reason. However, the situation is somewhat more complicated. The fact is that after the UK leaves the European Union, only one state will remain in the community, possessing rare features of the world - nuclear weapons and the right of "veto" in the UN Security Council. And this is France. She also has the fifth military budget in the world, ahead of Germany by more than 12 billion. US dollars. So, under the conditions of brexit, the political weight of France in Europe is seriously increasing.
Innocent Hollande almost overlooked this opportunity of his country. Even in anti-Russian initiatives in the UN Security Council, he cooperated either with the Americans or with the British. In the "Norman Four," the French stood behind the Germans at all. The first, as he was called the “early maturity” visit to Berlin by Emmanuel Macron, showed that the French elite had matured forces capable of defending their interests and their own vision of a European future.
In Berlin, where they still dreamed of power over Paris, they now began to talk about compromises. So far they relate to the economic proposals of Emmanuel Macron. A couple of days after his visit, these proposals no longer seem wasteful and unjustified to the Germans. Germany definitely felt that her word would not be as decisive in the commonwealth as before.
However, perhaps the Germans and in a hurry. It is possible that the French parliamentary elections in June will bring us new surprises, after which in Paris they will be carried away by internal political clashes, as they are doing now in Washington, and the European initiatives of Emmanuel Macron will disappear. At least, today it is not clear whether the French are ready to support the plans of their president. This leaves the Germans with the hope of retaining their influence in the European Union, although it is already ripe for change ...
What are you thinking about in Berlin?
In Germany, of course, they drew attention to the fact that in the interval between the first and second rounds of elections, Macron somewhat changed his rhetoric and spoke about the implementation of reforms of the European Union. Otherwise, he threatened to withdraw France from the European community. Macron did not explain his new thesis in detail, because German experts perceived his threat as a figure of speech.
In Berlin, they understood: in this way, Emmanuel Macron drew the voices of supporters of Marine Le Pen to him. By that time, European politicians had already formed a strong belief that Macron was a consistent supporter of the further strengthening of the European Union. Surprises from him were not expected. Moreover, many believed that, like Francois Hollande, the new French president would obediently follow in the wake of German policy and actively replicated the biting phrase of Marin Le Pen, that France would be led by a woman after France - either Le Pen herself or Chancellor Merkel.
Be that as it may, the Germans perceived the first visit of Macron to Berlin as an introductory meeting of two politicians, at which the new president of France had to enlist the support of the most influential European leader. However, the speech in Berlin went much further than ceremonial greetings.
Emmanuel Macron, as they say, took off the bat. He revealed to Angela Merkel his vision of reforms to strengthen and strengthen the European Union and the eurozone. It differs from the German perception of the European community. Over the years, Berlin has been entrenched in the image of the EU's locomotive, which has absorbed the functions of a financial sponsor, political educator, and even an auditor, imposing a new economic order and German discipline to partners. On this occasion, the experts cursed that the "fourth Reich" was being formed in Europe.
Emmanuel Macron sees Europe somewhat differently. His plans went even further than those integration schemes that were once spelled out in the Constitution of the European Union. As we remember, it was signed with great pomp, they even talked about the United States of Europe. It was in 2004 year. The draft of the constitution failed miserably. It could only be ratified in Luxembourg and Spain. The population of other countries has shown that it is not ready to blindly share national sovereignty with official Brussels.
But it is Brussels that sees the new president of France as the political, economic and power center of the European community. There is a slight clarification here. Macron’s proposals relate exclusively to countries in the euro area. According to the French reformer, they must create their own parliament, an executive power, in which the Minister of Economy and Finance (with the consent of the parliament) could manage the funds from the budgets of all 19 countries of the eurozone for investment purposes.
According to Macron, the eurozone should become the core of the EU. It is necessary to form a structural fund in it, from which then assist the partner countries that got into financial difficulties. In some ways, these proposals coincide with the already declared policy of the “Europe of two speeds”, but they made the Germans think much.
The difference of approaches lies in the fact that Berlin's financiers, in particular, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, have long and consistently advocated a budget saving regime in the partner countries. The French guest, on the contrary, proposes to invest in the development of the infrastructure of the eurozone.
“What the eurozone especially needs today,” said Emmanuel Macron in Berlin, “is a decisive investment policy, private investment, we must attract fresh investment.” Apparently, the Germans were not happy with such a proposal. Berlin commentators were quick to point out that in Macron there are more investment bankers than practical politicians. Along the way, he hints at the interest in investment projects of those banking structures in which the French president was previously able to work.
Unlike commentators, Angela Merkel could not reject from the threshold of the proposal of the French partner. She cautiously laid siege to the guest by saying that the implementation of his plans would require an audit of many European agreements. At the same time, the Chancellor emphasized: she does not object to the revision of the existing treaties, “if that would make sense.
The reservation is substantial. It reflected everything: surprise from the French application for independent political initiatives, from the unexpectedly serious agenda of the first, in fact, familiarization meeting and the need to respond to new, previously unknowledged challenges for German policy in Europe.
In the end, Merkel found herself and declared at a joint press conference that "Germany and France are not always united in everything, but they can create a symbiosis useful for cooperation both at the bilateral level and for the whole of Europe." Moreover, the Chancellor expressed her intention to prepare together with France a "road map" of reforms to strengthen the European Union. It was decided to return to this issue after the parliamentary elections in France and the formation of a new French government.
What is glorious Paris?
The dialogue in Berlin was unexpected for many. It became obvious, Macron claims its word in Europe. He sees France as a counterweight to Germany, an equal center in the balance of European forces. Fascinated by their economic success, German experts have long written off their western neighbors for second roles.
Permanently waddling out of the financial crisis into the social one and vice versa, France seemed far away from the ability to compete with the "best economy of Europe." The frankly weak political leadership complemented the sad picture. Therefore, in Berlin, the claims of Emmanuel Macron were more attributed not to the interests of France proper, but to the ambitions of those who brought the new French president to power.
Probably, in such a conspiracy there is a reason. However, the situation is somewhat more complicated. The fact is that after the UK leaves the European Union, only one state will remain in the community, possessing rare features of the world - nuclear weapons and the right of "veto" in the UN Security Council. And this is France. She also has the fifth military budget in the world, ahead of Germany by more than 12 billion. US dollars. So, under the conditions of brexit, the political weight of France in Europe is seriously increasing.
Innocent Hollande almost overlooked this opportunity of his country. Even in anti-Russian initiatives in the UN Security Council, he cooperated either with the Americans or with the British. In the "Norman Four," the French stood behind the Germans at all. The first, as he was called the “early maturity” visit to Berlin by Emmanuel Macron, showed that the French elite had matured forces capable of defending their interests and their own vision of a European future.
In Berlin, where they still dreamed of power over Paris, they now began to talk about compromises. So far they relate to the economic proposals of Emmanuel Macron. A couple of days after his visit, these proposals no longer seem wasteful and unjustified to the Germans. Germany definitely felt that her word would not be as decisive in the commonwealth as before.
However, perhaps the Germans and in a hurry. It is possible that the French parliamentary elections in June will bring us new surprises, after which in Paris they will be carried away by internal political clashes, as they are doing now in Washington, and the European initiatives of Emmanuel Macron will disappear. At least, today it is not clear whether the French are ready to support the plans of their president. This leaves the Germans with the hope of retaining their influence in the European Union, although it is already ripe for change ...
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