Future of the EU: Fewer regulations, more investments, and improved cooperation are needed to keep Europe viable, according to French President Macron. “The awakening is too slow.”
Macron @ Sorbonne 25-04-2024
Macron delivered his speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris in front of students, French politicians, and European diplomats.
Europe could die, and decisions must be made now to prevent this. This grave message was at the heart of the speech delivered by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday morning in the lavish amphitheater of Sorbonne University in Paris. The successive shocks that Europe has faced in recent years with the coronavirus pandemic, global trade conflicts, the war in Ukraine, and the rise of populism have exposed the weaknesses of the European Union, and according to Macron, immediate intervention is needed for the EU to withstand the test of time.
The weaknesses of the European Union are numerous and significant – the president named them one by one in front of students, French politicians, and European diplomats in a nearly two-hour-long speech. Macron is particularly concerned about the poor state of European militaries, which also lack cooperation, and dependence on other world powers in areas including defense, technology, food safety, and medicines. Also, the climate and biodiversity crises pose challenges to Europe, as do immigration at European external borders, foreign interference, and the lack of oversight on social media. “We do not set the rules in this digital space, where our democracy is shaped.”
The president came up with numerous proposals to make Europe a significant geopolitical player again, with the same core message: EU member states should cooperate more and invest more and smarter so the EU can become autonomous and compete with China and the United States. This is necessary, according to Macron, because these power blocs “no longer adhere to trade rules” with the massive support packages they are pumping into their economies.
To prevent Europe from being crushed, member states should invest heavily in existing sectors and several “sectors of the future” such as artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics, aerospace, biotechnology, and green energy forms. He also wants European countries to form more “real partnerships” with third countries to counteract the “bipolar confrontation” of China and the US. “We must show that we are a balancing power.”
Europe is also “too complicated,” Macron believes: there are too many and too complicated regulations, particularly in the area of climate. “It is not sustainable to have the strictest environmental rules, invest less, and be more naive [than other power blocs].” Trade rules within the EU would also weaken the international competitive position of the Union. “We need to dismantle the rules among the 27 countries so we can have a real shared market. Only then can you compete.”
Campaign Kickoff
In France, the speech is seen as an attempt by Macron to revive the campaign for the European elections of his Renaissance party. It could use it: the lead candidate Valérie Hayer struggles to gain momentum, in the polls the radical-right Rassemblement National leads by a large margin, and the third party, the Socialists, are dangerously close to Renaissance. As the socialist lead candidate Raphaël Glucksmann held a large gathering on Wednesday evening, it almost seemed like a duel between the two.
But within the Élysée, it is denied on all fronts that the speech is part of the European campaign. “It is a speech of a head of state speaking on behalf of France. (…) That is something entirely different,” says a source.
For the Élysée, ‘Sorbonne’ was mainly a continuation of the speech Macron gave in the same amphitheater in 2017. At that time – newly elected and very young – he was the one who put the theme of European autonomy on the European agenda with an inflated speech that is still often quoted. Then, it led to other EU member states tempering Macron’s words. But after the unrest and conflicts filled recent years, Macron sees that he has been proven right by his European partners. “The very French concept of sovereignty is increasingly spreading across Europe,” he said with satisfaction.
‘The EU is Awakening’
The French president was also cautiously positive about other developments. Where he portrayed a dozing European Union in 2017, he now described how member states have realized the dangers of being dependent on Russian gas and Chinese medicines. He celebrated the steps announced in recent years to reduce this dependence. He also repeatedly emphasized that the importance of the existence of the European Union is hardly disputed anymore. Where in 2017 radical-right parties like the Dutch PVV and the French Rassemblement National still advocated for Frexit and Nexit, “no one dares to talk about leaving the EU or the euro now.”
We are awakening, Macron concludes. “But the awakening is too slow.”