To mark the first week of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Head of State invited the President of the European Commission to a tribute ceremony to Simone Veil and Jean Monnet, before a joint press conference.
On the impressive facade of the Pantheon, the portraits of Simone Veil and Jean Monnet stand out in the early morning light. Two essential figures of European construction to whom Emmanuel Macron wished to pay tribute this Friday, along with the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. A symbol of weight for the President, a convinced Europeanist, while France took the head of the Council of the EU on January 1. And whose mood does not seem to have been marred by a long wait in the rain before the arrival of his host.
With the departure of Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron is eyeing European leadership. The Presidency of the Council of the EU is therefore an opportunity which he fully intends to seize. With a lot of gestures, he therefore applied himself to introduce the European history of France to the President of the Commission, within the walls of the Pantheon. During the visit, they lingered for a long time in front of the vaults where the two architects of the Union’s construction rest, before laying a wreath of flowers, against a background of choir music and in the presence of the families, ministers, as well as European commissioners.
The symbolic moment passed, back to business with a very political press conference. In the Elysée village hall, Emmanuel Macron, who had been impatiently awaiting the mandate, and Ursula von der Leyen spoke under the flamboyant logo of the French presidency – a tricolor and starred “EU”. “I am delighted that a country with political weight and experience like France is assuming the presidency, Van der Leyen said. France has a heart for Europe. ” Emmanuel Macron said to himself “very happy»Of this first week of the mandate, by affirming that France was “To work”. Using the terms of the French Presidency’s program announced on December 9, he recalled the main thrusts: accelerating decarbonization, regulating the digital market, strengthening border surveillance. In summary, “Revival, power, belonging”.
The solemnity of the occasion did not make us forget the recent media exit of the Head of State. But the controversy is never far away, as a question reminded him. At the desks, exchange of embarrassed smiles. The expression shocked across the Rhine. But Macron did not backpedal: “It was my responsibility to sound the alarm. We can be moved by forms of expression that seem familiar, but I am moved by the situation in which we are. “ And to recall that its vaccine strategy is of European inspiration.
During the press conference, they spoke with one voice: France’s mandate will be combined with the ambition of a “New model of European growth”. On the table also, the construction site of the Defense Union, a project dear to Macron, who likes to consider a “European security architecture”. More necessary than ever in this time of crisis in different corners of the continent, from the Balkans to Ukraine. “The geopolitical situation requires the EU to take a position”, he hammered. To the question “what does the EU intend to do concretely in the face of sending Russian troops to Kazakhstan (in insurgency for a week)?” the President nevertheless preferred to hand the floor over to his host. But the latter had nothing concrete to answer either on the subject of negotiations with Russia or of a specific European position vis-à-vis NATO.
In conclusion, Emmanuel Macron listed some of the next meetings, more than 400 in the next six months. As if he had forgotten that he will only wear the European costume for a few months, before it is called into play during the presidential election in April.