After seven years Emmanuel Macron, returns to speak at the historic Parisian University of La Sorbonne where, in 2017, as a newly elected young president, he launched his programmatic speech for Europe and established himself as a leader on the community scene. Today, a few weeks before the European elections, the tenant of the Elysée tries again, in a different guise and in a different context, and with two wars that upset the balance of the world, he launches his new political manifesto: “Europe can die it must become a military power and think more about growth”. Attacked by external enemies, pressed to the borders of his continent, tormented internally by the opposition Rassemblement National, which is aiming straight for electoral victory, Macron wears the warrior’s clothes and proposes a new vision of his European doctrine. “Europe is surrounded and is not sufficiently armed,” he said, citing the challenges posed by “unscrupulous regional powers” such as China and Russia. “The rules of the game have changed.” , he continued, and the time when the United States was a lifeline is over. “In the next decade there is an immense risk of be weakened because we are living in an unprecedented moment of acceleration of transformations – he added – we must be aware that our Europe can die and this depends solely on our choices, which must be made now because it is today that our ability to guarantee our safety”.
And so it is France that takes the field and puts itself on the line in all its ‘grandeur’. “The French army is ready to place itself at the forefront of European defense thanks also to the atomic weapon, an essential element of European defense to build the security guarantees” of the Continent, said the French president. Strong words, he decided, which this time also pleased the German ally Olaf Scholz, who was less convinced when the Transalpine ally had aired the involvement of NATO in the war in Ukraine: “Good impulses – was the comment to the Berlin leader’s speech – for Europe to remain strong”. has the nuclear weapon and therefore the possibility of dissuasion” said Macron, “the nuclear weapon is an essential element of European defense to build the security guarantees that our partners in Europe expect”. Therefore the appeal to the partners to “no longer be vassals of the USA” and to “produce more weapons and more quickly”.
Not just war, economic competitiveness is also a priority. Faced with the appetite of external powers, such as China and Russia, Emmanuel Macron has called for a revival of the economy to avoid the risk of Europe finding itself in a “stall”. Hence the invitation to the ECB not to think too much about inflation but more about growth, to review the continent’s models which are no longer “sustainable”, to avoid “impoverishment”. “We cannot have demanding environmental and social standards, invest less than our competitors and think that we will continue to create jobs. It no longer holds,” he warned, pointing the finger at countries that do not submit to the “rules of the economic game”, China and USA. “The two main international powers have decided to no longer respect trade rules,” he added. “We regulate too much, we invest too little, we are too open and do not defend our interests enough.”
This is why Europe must take into consideration a “review” of its trade policy. “We will invent a continent that excessively constrains its producers on its territory and which, through its trade policy, eliminates constraints for others,” he insisted. Finally, the political attack on the ‘nationalists’ and ‘anti-Europeanists’ who, he said, “remain in the European building without paying the rent or respecting the rules of co-ownership”, an attitude which could lead Europe to “die” if the pro-Europeans let themselves be overcome by “timidity”. “All European nationalisms no longer dare to say that they will leave the euro and Europe. But they have accustomed us all to a “yes but” discourse, that is to say: “I will put in my pocket everything that Europe has done it but I will do it by not respecting the rules”, underlined the French president as he concluded his speech at the Sorbonne. “The risk is that everyone else becomes shy in saying that the nationalists, the anti-Europeanists are very strong everywhere ” while the answer to fears is “in audacity”.