Tribune. 1er January, France will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) for a period of six months. Emmanuel Macron refused to change this calendar which telescopes the presidential election campaign, at the risk of weakening the interests of France. When I arrive at the Elysée Palace, I will take advantage of this presidency to draw up a new European requirement with all our partners.
Brexit has shown that, like all human constructions, the EU is deadly and that it can dissolve if it can no longer meet the aspirations of the people. The crisis linked to Covid-19, the influence strategy of the great powers (United States, China, Russia), show us, at the same time, that without Europe, we will no longer be able to influence the strategic choices of the world and that we will be led at best to erasure, at worst to domination.
Twenty-seven nations living together in peace. Twenty-seven peoples free to move around, twenty-seven youths free to meet and love each other, without barbed wire. It cannot be said enough that Europe is a historic exception that deserves to be protected. But a Europe which no longer believed in its civilization would no longer have any reason to exist.
Recast the Schengen Agreement
Faced with all these challenges, I call for a European leap. If we persist in angelism, if we continue to behave like the soft underbelly of globalization, we will fall into the oblivion of history. We have to get out of this “naive Europe” to build a “Europe of pride” with our partners.
This starts with a Europe that knows how to defend its borders. I will propose the overhaul of the Schengen Agreement and of the European migration policy by revising the Returns Directive [qui harmonise, depuis 2008, les règles d’expulsion des sans-papiers dans l’UE], by systematizing the biometric control of all those who wish to enter our territory and by speeding up the recruitment of 10,000 Frontex border guards [l’agence de surveillance des frontières de l’UE].
I will also propose that the enlargements of the EU be brought to an end, in particular for Turkey, for which the process is only suspended today. Pre-accession aid (15 billion euros) can thus be redeployed to other European priorities.
Finally, because with Africa our destinies are linked and because economic development is a better bulwark than barriers in the face of migratory pressure, I will propose with Germany to amplify a Marshall Plan for this continent, backed in particular by European companies.
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