Keynote speech
Macron calls for a shake-up in the EU – “Europe can die”
French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for a European defense strategy with a common arms industry and accelerated rearmament financed by EU funds. photo
© Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA POOL/AP/dpa
In a keynote speech on Europe, France’s president calls for a shake-up in the EU. Sovereignty, strength and security urgently need to be increased. “Europe can die,” he warns.
Before the European elections, French President Emmanuel Macron has a jolt Europe called for more independence, economic strength and security. In the face of military threats, competition from the USA and China and a questioning of democracy, Europe must expand its sovereignty, defend its values and protect its interests and markets, Macron demanded in a keynote speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
The appearance was Macron’s entry into the European election campaign, which is currently not looking good for the liberal camp in France.
“We must be clear today that our Europe is mortal, it can die,” Macron said. “It depends solely on our decisions, but these decisions must be made now.” In the next decade, there is a great risk that Europe will be “weakened or even outclassed,” said Macron. “We are at a turning point.” The time when Europe got its energy and raw materials from Russia, many products were delivered from China and the USA guaranteed security is over.
Rethinking European trade policy necessary
Specifically, Macron called for a European defense strategy with a common arms industry and accelerated rearmament financed by EU funds in order to cope with the threat from Russia. Trade policy must be reconsidered in view of massive subsidies from China and the USA to their own industry. Loyal competition must be ensured and there must be preference for European products in key technologies in the EU. The same standards and rules of the game should also apply in agriculture and the food industry to protect farmers.
In view of the major challenges in future topics such as dealing with climate change or artificial intelligence, Macron insisted on more research and investment. In order to mobilize more money, the EU must have a larger common budget and accelerate the desired capital markets union so that more private capital is invested within the EU.
Macron’s speech comes almost seven years after a first Europe speech at the Sorbonne. In September 2017, the then newly elected president outlined an ambitious vision for a sovereign Europe that caused a stir. However, there was no response from Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) to Macron’s initiative at the time until the end of her term in office. His successor Olaf Scholz (SPD) responded almost two years ago with a keynote speech on European policy in Prague, in which he did not go into detail about the importance of Franco-German friendship for Europe. Neither was well received in France.
Reaction from Olaf Scholz
Now Chancellor Scholz reacted promptly, saying he supports Macron’s proposed measures for an economically strong, secure Europe. The common goal of France and Germany is “for Europe to remain strong,” said Scholz on the X platform (formerly Twitter). “Your speech contains good ideas about how we can achieve this,” he added. “Together we are moving the EU forward: politically and economically,” said Scholz. Macron, in turn, praised the German-French cooperation several times in his one-and-a-half-hour speech.
With his second Sorbonne appearance, which was widely announced in France in days, Macron also tried to strengthen his camp in the run-up to the European elections. According to surveys, Marine Le Pen’s right-wing populists, who are following a Euro-critical and France-centered course, are currently clearly ahead. According to the latest Opinionway poll, the presidential camp has 19 percent, behind Le Pen’s Rassemblement National with 29 percent. According to the survey, the Socialists are currently the third strongest force with 12 percent.