The document could not have come at a better time, one month away from the French presidency of the European Union. The block – 178 pages – defines the common objectives of the German tripartite coalition. In the middle, a few lines made Emmanuel Macron’s entourage jump for joy: “We support, writes the coalition, the necessary modification of treaties. The conference for the future of Europe should lead to a constituent convention and lead to the evolution of the European Union towards a federal state. “
The “conference for the future of Europe “, it is this great debate launched on May 9, on the scale of all Europe. The objective is for citizens drawn by lot – 746 in France for example – to define the priorities that the EU must set for the years to come. Germany therefore wants to transform this conference into a constituent convention. A decision applauded by both hands on the French side, because it can “lead to the constitutional debate that the European institutions need “, Stéphane Séjourné analysis in the newspaper Opinion. Stéphane Séjourné is someone important in the Macron system. It is his former political adviser, one of his oldest advisers besides, president of the Renew group – the macronist group in the European Parliament. He is one of those behind the scenes preparing for the French presidency of the Union.
So beware: France is not calling for a 2005-style constitutional debate, with a referendum. “If you say constitutional reform, you wake up from a trauma and full of bad memories “, warns a Renew group advisor. But the same sees in the position “maximalist “ of Germany a window to at least move treaties.
For example to settle the question of the primacy of jurisdictions – national or community -, which is at the heart of the standoff with Poland at this very moment. But also to broaden Europe’s skills and fully include health. This is called for by the convention for the future of Europe, which submitted its report to the government on Monday. Or to amend the Stability Pact, which sets the limit of the authorized public deficit per country at 3% of GDP.
Two years ago, in The Economist, Emmanuel Macron considered that the 3% rule was “a debate from another century “. The German coalition agreement evokes a “evolution of fiscal rules “. Here too, around the president we applaud with both hands.