Emmanuel Macron has his plate full as France’s takes over the EU presidency, having announced lofty plans to control migration and overhaul the bloc’s budgetary framework. Critics say his agenda will be impossible to achieve within six months, arguing it's designed more to advance his bid for re-election rather than to meet Europe's needs.
“Recovery, power and belonging.” According to the Élysée Palace, these three words will symbolise France’s six months at the helm of the European Union Council, an honour it receives once every 13 years.
It didn’t exactly get off to a sterling start, however, with a backlash from the right wing forcing the removal of a giant EU flag at the Arc de Triomphe war memorial that was raised in the place of a French one on New Year’s Eve.
Macron's far-right opponents accused him instead of erasing French identity and insulting the memory of those who fought for France by replacing the French flag with the European one.
The flag was meant to be a temporary tribute to the 27-nation bloc, with landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur and the Pantheon also lit up in blue.
Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, Sacré-Coeur, Louvre, Quai d'Orsay, Invalides, Opéra Garnier, Sénat..
— Antony Paone (@PaoneAntony) January 1, 2022
Tous ces lieux parisiens sont éclairés en #bleu #Europe pour marquer la présidence française du conseil de l'Union Européenne. #Reuters pic.twitter.com/d71bJgKWXH
The EU presidency gives Macron a platform to take centre stage as Europe’s de facto leader, following the retirement of Germany’s Angela Merkel, a close ally.
"We should move from a Europe of internal cooperation to a Europe that is powerful in the world, fully sovereign and free to make its own choices and master its destiny,” Macron said as he laid out France’s EU goals last month.
Domestic campaign
Macron has faced criticism at home and abroad for not postponing France's EU Council presidency given an apparent conflict of interest posed by France’s own presidential race in April.
The EU presidency is a gift for the 44-year-old leader who is able to use the post as a platform as candidates swing into full campaign mode.
France’s logo for its EU presidency consists of the letters UE (Union Européenne, or European Union), in red, blue and white. It also includes a grey arrow laid over the E, which observers note creates a sideways M for Macron.
During his New Year’s Eve speech, the devout Europhile and centrist promised the next six months would be “a time of progress”.
A priority is reforming the visa-free Schengen area to allow the EU to safeguard its borders in the face of migrant crises and, Macron said, to “prevent the right of asylum… from being misused”.
While border security has proven a divisive and unattainable task for years, critics say Macron has zoned in on the issue because it fits nicely with France’s own electoral debate.
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“Personally, it worries me to hear a French president talking about migration as a problem in need of a repressive response,” said French MEP David Cormand of the Europe Ecologie-Les Verts party.
He added there are plenty of “concrete” issues that France should be acting on instead, such as agriculture – in particular the risks linked to pesticides – as well as the issue of fair taxation in France.
"I have the feeling we’re going to have an EU French presidency full of forums, big meetings and grand debates,” Cormand lamented.
Presidency limits
The EU presidency sets the agenda for fellow leaders and although each member state gets a chance through the rotating role, they don't have carte blanche. There are also rules that need to be followed.
This means Macron must see through the objectives of the previous host country, says Frederic Allemand, a researcher in European studies at the University of Luxembourg and lecturer at Sciences Po.
“There is a pile of important files that France will have to manage – including achieving a 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030,” Allemand told RFI, adding that fears Macron would twist EU policy to advance his goals for France were “exaggerated”.
Fiscal fiasco
Another thorny subject that Macron must tackle is the complex fiscal rulebook that has long beleaguered the eurozone. The rules cap a country’s budget deficit at three percent of its GDP, and pare down its debt to 60 percent.
Enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty for the past 30 years, Macron has argued that the rules are outdated and full of loopholes, and must be revamped. Many countries disagree.
He has called a summit in March to discuss European growth and rethink the budgetary framework that will govern the needs of post-Covid Europe. That famework will also need to be environmentally sustainable.
Analysts say that after ramping up expectations for Europe, Macron will need to show proof that he’s delivering on key issues before France goes to the polls in April.
