FAZ: A ‘dominant European’

There are many articles in the German press about the French President Emanuel Macron and the international role of today’s France, on the occasion of the French presidency in the EU in the first half of 2022. Southgerman newspaper “Since taking office, the President of France has remained loyal to the pro-European agenda he expressed in his speech at the Sorbonne in 2017. In the case of Macron, a ‘pro-European’ agenda means that if France wants to to remain economically strong and strong in the field of foreign policy, it needs a strong, sovereign Europe around it “. Citing a recent study by the Jacques Delors Institute, the German newspaper notes that in France the idea of ​​Europe remains popular: “Yes, the French may be more critical of the EU than the Germans or most other Member States. “Half of those polled do not trust the Brussels bureaucracy. At the same time, the vast majority want a common European policy on immigration, defense and the environment. This is what Macron has been proposing since 2017.”

H Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) In a commentary entitled “A Sovereign European” he points out, however, that the rotating presidency’s role no longer has the specific weight it once had, for example in the last French presidency in 2008: “The then President Nicolas Sarkozy could feel like a leader Emanuel Macron’s successor’s deprived of an important post The European Council now has a permanent leader, Charles Michel of Belgium, and the French Foreign Minister will not have the mandate High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Both of these positions, established by the Lisbon Treaty, have shifted the balance in the EU in favor of the Brussels-based institutions, but that has not stopped Macron from setting ambitious goals for the future. six months, with his ministers chairing nine councils of ministers on a variety of issues, from the law and fiscal policy up to agriculture and fisheries “.

“Macron’s best student”

The financial inspection Handelsblatt claims that the threads of the French presidency are largely driven by the French Undersecretary of State for European Affairs Clement Bon, whom he describes as Macron’s “best student”. Among other things, we read: “Bonn persuaded Macron to focus more on the smaller EU member states, as well as the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In a recent interview, he reminded that Macron is the first president of France to visit and “It would be a mistake to think that France and Germany have pre-decided everything,” said Bonn. “Macron has given Monsieur Europa ‘freedom of maneuver that no other cabinet member has in a similar position.”

Giannis Papadimitriou

SOURCE: Deutsche Welle