Emmanuel Macron made it “Non-negotiable part” of his political thought, his “Ideological struggle”. Here it is now set up as a campaign argument. Europe is interfering in the presidential battle. At a time when the opponents of the Head of State like to describe the President of the Republic as a half-hearted chameleon, the tenant of the Elysee Palace has decided to impose one of his favorite themes in the debates of the moment. Without waiting for the 1er January, the date on which France will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) for six months, the Head of State will unveil, Thursday, December 9, at a press conference, the main European priorities that France will wear during its presidency.
It is necessary “Build a Europe which will be able to choose for itself, choose with whom to cooperate, with whom to break up”, has already sketched Emmanuel Macron during his speech for the twenty-five years of the Jacques Delors Institute at the Théâtre de l’Odéon, Monday, December 6 in Paris. Determined to transform the EU, above all an economic and commercial alliance, into a political power, the Head of State should thus reiterate his wish to build a more sovereign and more active Europe in the field of defense. It will also be a question of evoking, while the migratory question continues to divide the Twenty-Seven, a reform of the Schengen area of free movement of goods and people.
For the rest, the Elysee has already, on many occasions, made known its objectives. It is in particular a question of advancing the idea of a European minimum wage aimed at putting an end to fiscal dumping, of pushing the regulatory texts of digital platforms, and perhaps of bringing the carbon tax to the fore at borders – a taxation imposed on non-EU products that do not comply with European criteria for respecting the environment.
Instrument of political divide
But, during a French presidency of the European Union, known as “PFUE”, interrupted by the presidential election of April 10 and 24, it is difficult to imagine that Paris could overturn the table. And beyond building regulations dear to Brussels, the PFUE will above all seek to remind the French that “Europe is there to protect them”, explains an adviser to the president. “In this period I do not see why we would have shameful Europe, but if we put forward the PFUE we must not have “technical Europe” “, abounds Stanislas Guerini, general delegate of the presidential party, La République en Marche (LRM).
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