Europe gives Macron respite from domestic troubles
Angela Merkel rallies behind beleaguered French president.
By MAÏA DE LA
BAUME 12/14/18, 6:45 PM CET Updated
12/14/18, 7:20 PM CET
France's President Emmanuel Macron talks with European
leaders during a European Summit aimed at discussing the Brexit deal, the
long-term budget and the single market on December 13, 2018 in Brussels |
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images
Emmanuel Macron is not short of troubles at home. But at
least Europe offered some respite.
The French president stepped back onto the European stage
after weeks of violent anti-government protests forced him into a series of
concessions, including ditching a planned fuel tax hike and raising the minimum
wage.
He arrived at the two-day European Council summit on
Thursday just a couple of days after a gunman opened fire in Strasbourg,
killing four people and injuring 11 others.
But in Brussels, fellow European leaders — most importantly
German Chancellor Angela Merkel — showed they still have faith in the president
who swept to power with a strongly pro-EU message in May of last year.
Asked whether she understood Macron’s concessions to Yellow
Jackets protesters and whether she was concerned that France would once again
fail to meet its budget deficit commitments, Merkel offered Macron strong
support.
French president Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference
after the European Council on December 14 2018, in Brussels | Ludovic Marin/AFP
via Getty Images
“Macron has a comprehensive reform program of which many
measures have already been implemented and others are work in progress,” she
said at a post-summit news conference.
“He made well-thought-through additional proposals taking up
issues about which people had complained,” Merkel added. “But I’m firmly
convinced that he will stick to and implement his reform agenda, which is good
for France particularly with regard to reducing youth unemployment."
Merkel's comments were not without edge. While offering her
backing, they could be seen as an exhortation to Macron not to abandon course.
But they were at least positive.
On Friday morning, Macron was able to claim a win when the
leaders agreed to work on the creation of a "budgetary instrument"
for the eurozone. The clunky phrase reflects how hard-fought the agreement was
— Macron wanted a fully fledged eurozone budget; other countries, led by the
Netherlands, were deeply skeptical.
The final deal is a long way short of what Macron wanted, as
it will not offer cash to governments to deal with financial shocks and it will
be contained within the EU's own multi-year budget.
France's President Emmanuel Macron arrives on December 13,
2018 in Brussels for a European Summit | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
But the agreement was enough for Macron to declare that one
of his most cherished and controversial projects was becoming a reality.
“One year ago, after France made the proposal, many
considered it would be impossible,” Macron told reporters in his post-summit
press conference.
Budget boost
Eurogroup President Mário Centeno struck a similar note.
"On the #euro area budget idea we went from impossible to likely in a few
months," he tweeted. "The #Eurogroup has a new mandate to work on its
details and by June 2019 we will agree on the features of this budgetary
instrument."
French officials also said Paris had pushed for language in
the official Council conclusions on European defense and the fight against
illicit internet content. “In my eyes, this European Council has been first and
foremost the council of results,” Macron declared.
An EU diplomat said Macron did not cut a diminished figure
at the summit but instead got involved in discussions with his usual vigor. He
spoke out strongly on Brexit, saying he would not accept any re-negotiation of
the legal withdrawal deal signed in November with the U.K. and placing the ball
firmly in the court of British Prime Minister Theresa May.
“We can have a political discussion in this context but it
is up to May to tell us what is the political solution that she intends to lead
to get a majority over the agreement,” he told journalists on Thursday.
German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) and French
President Emmanuel Macron (R) greet each other prior to the start of the
European Council in Brussels, Belgium, 13 December 2018 | Olivier
Hoslet/EPA-EFE
He also sought to defuse worries in Brussels about France
breaching EU deficit rules after as a result of his concessions to the Yellow
Jackets. The measures are likely to raise France’s deficit to around 3.4
percent of GDP in 2019. Macron defended those steps on Friday, saying they were
“essential for the credibility” of his country.
But those concerns were not completely absent from the
summit. Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, normally a close ally of the
French president, warned against “mortgaging the next generations.”
“A responsible politician must not think too much about the
next elections but rather to the next generations,” he added.
Paul Taylor and Jacopo Barigazzi contributed reporting.
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