The meeting is fixed around 11 am. Emmanuel Macron will to speak in front of the European Parliament, Wednesday January 19, to mark the kick-off of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union (PFUE). In the hemicycle of Strasbourg, he will present “his vision for the European Union”, with “European sovereignty as a red thread”, corn “will also speak on behalf of the 27 member states”, said the Elysée.
>> The article to read to know everything about the French presidency of the European Union
After a speech of about twenty minutes, during which he should address several priority files, such as the minimum wage, the climate or the reform of the Schengen area, will begin a long sequence of questions and answers with the deputies, fewer than usual due to the hybrid format of this session due to the pandemic. Emmanuel Macron will be challenged by elected officials from all countries but, as is customary for the rotating presidencies of the EU, an important place will be left to French speakers.
The right-wing MEPs, François-Xavier Bellamy, the radical left-wing Manon Aubry and the far-right MEPs, Jordan Bardella and Nicolas Bay, but also the ecologist Yannick Jadot, the only presidential candidate to sit in Strasbourg, should thus speak. “I will intervene to recall his record and to denounce the instrumentalization of the PFUE (French presidency) for electoral purposes”, announced Manon Aubry, setting the tone for the criticisms that should be addressed to the Head of State.
On the other hand, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will not ultimately be present in the hemicycle, having been declared a contact case at Covid-19. At the end of this debate, Emmanuel Macron will have lunch with the new President of Parliament, the Maltese conservative Roberta Metsola, elected on Tuesday, before holding a press conference.
Since his election in 2017, celebrated to the sound of the EU anthem, the French president has stood as the leader of pro-Europeans in the face of “nationalists” and “populists”. The latter focus their criticism on the immigration file, which has become central to the electoral campaign, accusing Emmanuel Macron and the Commission of “lack of firmness”. “In the EU everything remains to change”, thus denounced on Tuesday the candidate of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, calling again on the “restoration of permanent controls at national borders”. On the left, critics focus more on the need to revise or end the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP).