Mortal threats and Sovereign Europe — Emmanuel Macron's 2.0 Sorbonne Speech
I was invited to attend the presidential address on the European Union this Thursday. Here are my main takeaways.
I was lucky to attend Emmanuel Macron's speech this morning at La Sorbonne University in Paris.
Today’s address was very much the followup of his original leading speech on Europe that the French president gave in 2017 in the same amphiteater.
While, in 2017, the then-just-elected President presented his leading ideas on the UE, today was very much about tacking stock of what was done in the last five years and preparing for the next decade.
Here are my main takeaways from Emmanuel Macron’s speech, and what it means for those who make the EU on a daily basis.
Taking stock
The French president open his speech by warning the audience that Europe “did not succeed” on a lot of issues.
He nevertheless celebrated important successes, especially in the challenging times that the Union had just gone through, from building resilience against COVID-19, remaining united despite the war in Ukraine, and bringing about new ideas, such as the EU-wide recovery plan.
But the main success, the president argued, remain his idea for “strategic autonomy”, a concept now widely shared in Brussels.
This strategic autonomy (…) is this choice to put an end to our strategic dependencies in key sectors, from semiconductors to critical raw materials. And for seven years, Europe has begun to emerge from this, if I may say, technological and industrial naivety, just as it has also begun to correct its trade policy.
Emmanuel Macron also celebrated key files from the last five years, among which are the Green Deal and the Asylum and Migration Pact.
Mortal threats on Europe
It is not enough to look at the past. Europe has to answer its current challenges.
Emmanuel Macron warned against the “mortality” of Europe. And to list the three great challenges of the coming years.
The first is to be able to defend Europe while Uncle Sam is looking away. The US is looking first inwards (America first), then to China: “Europe is not a priority anymore for the USA.”
The second challenge is to end Europe’s “naivety” on trade. The American Inflation Reduction Act and China’s “over-subventions” render old trade rules obsolete. Europe must fight back.
Finaly, the French president addressed threats to democracy, both from abroad and from within the EU.
Captain Europa: how to strengthen the EU?
To answer these challenges, President Macron argued, Europe must step up its game and “assume the question of [its] sovereignty”.
Building a “credible defense of the continent”
To better defend itself against foreign threats, Emmanuel Macron called for a European preference in the purchase of military equipment and building a European defense industry.
He also encouraged his fellow head of states to strengthen Ukraine’s support.
A Europe “master of its borders”
To ensure greater control of EU’s borders, Emmanuel Macron called for Schengen to become a “true home security council”, in the image of what Ecofin is for the Eurozone.
Prosperity: greener, simpler, faster economic norms
The triptic of the president was clear. Europe needs to simplify, decarbonate, and accelerate its industrial policies.
And to list five key areas: AI, quantum tech, space, biotechnology, and new energies such as hydrogen, modular reactors, and nuclear fusion.
Fighting domestic and imported threats on democracy
Emmanuel Macron insisted on Europe’s mortality, and that nationalism is the cause of it. The critics of Europe are undermining the rules that make it viable.
To fight it, the French president defended the conditionality of EU funds to the respect of the rule of law. He asked for more stringent procedures for “serious violations.”
He finally called for reinforcing Europe’s capacities in targeting foreign interference and propaganda.
Emmanuel Macron touched many more points during his two-hour long address, and I couldn't — nor wanted — to write about them all here.
But I believe this is an essential rendition of the essential points of the speech.
As a conclusion, I would like to thank the Académie Notre Europe, of the Institut Jacques Delors, thanks to which I could attend the presidential address.
Thanks for reading!
I’m Alexandre Météreau, EU lobbyists and campaigner.
The Beubble is a side project where I share insights and practical advice on EU policymaking and influence.
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