French President Emmanuel Macron presented on December 9 the main guidelines for the next rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) that his country will assume from January 1. Immigration, climate change and the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic top his list of priorities and ambitions.
“Recovery, power and belonging” is the motto with which Emmanuel Macron summarized the guidelines of the next presidency of the European Union (EU), in charge of his country from January 1 and for six months.
The French president announced that the first line of his agenda is to strengthen the sovereignty of Europe, including security, border protection and immigration control, as well as the implementation of the acquired climate commitments and economic recovery.
France assumes official leadership within the EU in times of crisis, especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its financial consequences, tensions with Russia and the increase in trade rivalries with China and the United States.
I moment that nous vivons est rare. Dans l’Europe à 27, France exercises the Présidence une fois tous les treize ans. Le 1st janvier 2022, nous aurons la responsabilité de porter des ambitions pour l’Europe. Ce que nous ferons:https://t.co/ICGvyPaENP
– Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 9, 2021
“We must move from a Europe of cooperation within our borders to a Europe that is powerful in the world, fully sovereign, free in its elections and master of its destiny,” said the French head of state, while presenting his implementation plan.
Look at the main focuses of the agenda of the next pro-tempore presidency of the union of 27 countries:
Security and immigration
Macron ratified this December 9 that he will press for “a stronger and more capable European defense” that contributes to global security and is complementary to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
His statements come amid the EU’s tensions with Russia over the transfer of troops to the border with Ukraine, a movement that has triggered the alarms for a possible invasion.
Since his election in 2017, Macron has been pushing for the EU to be independent in terms of security and not solely rely on US military protection inherited from WWII.
In addition, the president pointed out that one of the highest priorities in this new phase will be better immigration control, in a context of clashes between Brussels and Belarus over the migrant crisis on the border with Poland.
Minsk is accused of engineering chaos by transferring and pressuring thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa to cross the border with EU bloc countries such as Poland and Lithuania, in retaliation for the economic sanctions that Brussels imposed against them.
Among France’s proposals is the creation of an emergency reaction force to help EU states that face this type of crisis at their borders, said the French president.
The leader also proposes that the community bloc have periodic political meetings on migration, as the euro zone states already do on economic matters.
The European Union has been deeply divided for years over immigration and how it should monitor its external borders. It remains to be seen how much France will be able to achieve during its presidency of the EU Council of Ministers.
Economy and pandemic
Macron promotes a vision of “strategic autonomy” from the EU that would allow the 27-nation bloc to circumvent competition from China and put it on a more equal footing with the United States.
In addition, he referred to the economic stimulus packages and said that they should not be a taboo subject for Brussels.
Faced with the financial complications after the restrictions imposed to try to stop the pandemic, Macron assured that the EU may have to expand the initial package of 750,000 million euros to recover from the impact left by the health emergency.
However, there are countries in the alliance that are reluctant in this regard. Germany supported the approved package, but is wary of any joint loan facility becoming permanent.
The Netherlands is also cautious about co-financing the stimulus funds.
As a next step, Macron announced that he will host an EU growth summit in March, after explaining that boosting the bloc’s growth model would require adjusting budget rules to make them more simplified and transparent.
On the other hand, the French head of state pointed out that by the spring, the European Union will draft the texts on the implementation of the global corporate minimum tax agreement that was negotiated this year.
Climate change
Macron indicated that an adjustment mechanism to the carbon limits would be fundamental for the climate transition strategy in the bloc, in order to fulfill the commitments acquired to mitigate the great world crisis: global warming.
In that direction, the leader stressed that he would use the rotating presidency of the European Council to advance the ban on imports of soy, coffee, wood and cocoa that cause high levels of deforestation.
However, Macron clarified that he will work to ensure that European Union companies are not affected by climate policies.
One aspect that stands out is to promote a carbon tax on a series of imports, something already proposed by the EU Executive Commission to protect European industries from competitors abroad, whose manufacturers can produce at a lower cost because they do not they are charged for their carbon production.
France’s presidency of the EU coincides with the country’s presidential elections, scheduled for next April, a scenario that could provide a platform for its re-election campaign, if it decides to confirm it, or complicate it if it collides with disagreements from the electorate on internal issues such as the economy, security and immigration.
The French head of state, elected in 2017, has yet to formally clarify whether he will run for a second term.
With Reuters and AP
.