German Chancellor Olaf Scholz subscribes to the diagnosis of French President Emmanuel Macron who judges that “Europe is mortal”, in a joint forum calling in particular to rethink the continent’s economic strategy to ensure its future. “We cannot take for granted the foundations on which we have built our European way of life and our role in the world,” write the two leaders in this text published in the daily Financial Times, online Monday evening.
“Our Europe is deadly, and we must rise to this challenge,” they continue as the French president makes a state visit to Germany. The observation of the risk of Europe disappearing, particularly in the face of economic and security challenges, was one of the salient points of the speech given by Emmanuel Macron at the Sorbonne on April 25. He has used many terms since his arrival in Germany on Sunday. In this column, Emmanuel Macron takes up the idea dear to Olaf Scholz of a “Zeitenwende”, to describe the change of era marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For Germany, this meant a turning point in its defense policy, with a massive increase in military spending.
Make the EU budget “adapted to the challenges of tomorrow”
Less than two weeks before the European elections, the text then formulates the broad outlines of a Franco-German roadmap to boost the competitiveness of the EU in the face of competition from China and the United States. Among the key elements: a reorientation of the EU budget in order to free up new resources for future investments. “We must ensure that the EU budget is adapted to the challenges of tomorrow and give even greater priority to transformative European spending and public goods, while working to introduce new own resources, as agreed in 2020,” they write.
During a speech on Monday in Dresden, in eastern Germany, Emmanuel Macron called on the EU to “double” its budget and assume the “wall of investments” necessary for the ecological and digital transition. This joint forum comes as Paris and Berlin have displayed marked differences in recent months on the idea of a new common European debt, the union of capital markets, the energy transition and even trade with China. Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron will meet on Tuesday during a Franco-German Council of Ministers in Meseberg (east) on the third and last day of Mr. Macron’s visit.