EDITORIAL. Where is Emmanuel Macron the European?

On subjects like immigration, the environment or secularism, the lack of direction is sometimes pointed out even within the majority, but Emmanuel Macron’s European commitment has not changed since 2017. .

The leaders of the European Union validated on Thursday December 14 the opening of negotiations for Ukraine’s entry into the EU. Emmanuel Macron was strongly committed in this direction. Mired in the political crisis on the domestic scene, the head of state is looking for oxygen outside, on the European scene.

On Wednesday, he insisted on the crucial issue of this summit and called on the EU to be “at the rendezvous of full and lasting support for Ukraine”. Especially at a time when Western aid seems to be declining.
In fact, since his re-election, Emmanuel Macron has never stopped launching and relaunching this chaotic five-year term, which was poorly handled from the start. Lack of absolute majority in the National Assembly, but also lack of compass. Many within the majority even deplore a lack of clear direction. On several subjects, immigration, the environment, secularism, and others, he seemed lost in the zig-zags of “at the same time”, saying a bit of everything and its opposite. To restore his health, the Head of State is therefore banking, in particular, on his European commitment.

Reforming the functioning of the EU

On this theme, he did not vary. As much as Macronism sometimes seems vague, Europe is part of its DNA. From his 2017 campaign, candidate Macron claimed to be viscerally pro-European. His supporters waved European flags in his rallies. The Ode to Joy, the official anthem of the EU, accompanied his first steps in public on the evening of his two presidential victories, without forgetting his fiery speeches in Athens or the Sorbonne in the fall of 2017. Throughout the crises, he lost of his enthusiasm and further pleaded for a protective Europe, in the face of Covid, the migratory challenge or the Russian threat. The head of state has even converted to the defense of European sovereignty. But fundamentally, it does not deviate. He wants to strengthen integration, and reform the functioning of the EU to go further.

A speech which is not in keeping with the times in Europe, hence the heavy challenge, one more, which faces the President. Because almost everywhere, anti-European far-right parties are making progress. And sometimes gain power, as in the Netherlands or Italy. France is no exception to this trend illustrated by the rise to power of Marine Le Pen, who maintains a guilty indulgence for Vladimir Putin. And yet, while the head of the RN list, Jordan Bardella, is leading the polls for the European elections on June 9, the Macronist majority still has for the moment neither leader, nor list, nor project.