Sovereignty, Schengen, climate, minimum wage….: Emmanuel Macron defends his priorities for Europe on Wednesday during a debate with MEPs which takes on a strong political dimension as the presidential election approaches in France.
More than ever, the French head of state will present himself as a fervent supporter of the European cause, which he has been promoting since the start of his five-year term in 2017.
For this, he wanted to give particular importance to the traditional speech launching the rotating presidency of the EU, which France exercises until June 30.
In the Strasbourg hemicycle, he will present “his vision for the European Union”, with “European sovereignty as a red thread”, but “will also speak on behalf of the 27 Member States”, indicated the Elysée.
“It’s an institutional exercise. He is going there as President of the Republic and only in this capacity”, insisted Tuesday Clément Beaune, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, while Emmanuel Macron did not officially announced his candidacy for the April 10 election.
After a speech of regarding twenty minutes, a long sequence of questions and answers will begin with the deputies, fewer in number 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 which should be addressed to the Head of State.
– “Vision naïve” –
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.
In his speech, Emmanuel Macron will present “a lot of texts to be concrete”, indicated Clément Beaune. After presenting them on December 9 in Paris, he should return to the objective of obtaining “rapid results” on priority issues, such as the minimum wage, the climate or the reform of the Schengen area to better fight once morest irregular migration.
On the sensitive subject of the carbon tax at the borders of the EU, “we are fighting for, I think we will manage” to put it in place, specified Clément Beaune, assuring that Germany had given its ” agreement in principle”.
Since his election in 2017, celebrated to the sound of the EU anthem, the French president has posed as the leader of pro-Europeans once morest “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 “lacking firmness”.
“In the EU, everything remains to be changed”, thus denounced Tuesday the candidate of the National Rally Marine Le Pen, calling once more for the “restoration of” permanent controls at the national borders “.
On the left, critics focus more on the need to revise or end the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP).
In front of MEPs, Emmanuel Macron should also “rise above the program for these six months” to show “the unique path of Europe”, which wants to be “a power of stability” in “a turbulent international context” marked in particular by the tensions between Russia and Ukraine on the borders of the EU, according to an adviser.