Macron warns Europe ‘can die’ in alarmist speech
on protectionism, geopolitical threats
Macron reiterated calls for a third way between the
U.S. and China, saying Europe must show that “it’s never going to be a vassal
for the United States.”
In his speech Emmanuel Macron evoked the death of
Europe as a real possibility. |
APRIL 25,
2024 5:33 PM CET
BY CLEA
CAULCUTT
https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-europe-china-competition-protectionism-geopolitics/
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron warned
Thursday that Europe faces possible demise if it does not take bold action to
tackle U.S. and Chinese protectionism, amid serious geopolitical threats from
authoritarian regimes.
In a bleak
and solemn speech delivered at the Sorbonne University in Paris that frequently
returned to the theme of a fast-changing global order, Macron evoked the death
of Europe as a real possibility.
The
Continent under-invests in innovation, fails to protect its industries and
boost its military and defenses, he said.
“Europe is
mortal, it can die. It only depends on our choices," he said in a
highly-anticipated speech that echoed a landmark discourse he gave there months
into his first term in 2017. "And these choices have to be made now."
"In
the next decade, the risk is immense that we will be weakened, even
relegated," he told an audience of officials, journalists and politicians,
pointing to changing geopolitics and emboldened authoritarian regimes.
"The
era of basing our production in China, of delegating our defense to the U.S.,
and of getting our energy from Russia is over. The rules of the game have
changed," he said. The French president accused both the U.S. and China of
failing to respect global trade rules in massively subsidizing their economies.
“However
strong our alliance with America is, we are not a priority for them” he said.
“They have two priorities: themselves — fair enough — and China.”
Echoing
past calls in favor of seeking a third way between the U.S. and China, the
French president said Europe must show that "it’s never going to be a
vassal for the United States" when it "speaks to other regions of the
world.”
Europe, he
said, had made big strides in its unity and autonomy in recent years in the
face of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, but "the wake-up is too
slow." The French president called for a much more aggressive trade policy
and far greater public investments in a range of critical areas.
But the
French president was less specific on the the crucial question of how Europe
would be able to fund its transition toward becoming what he called "a
European powerhouse." He reiterated his support for the acquisition of new
joint debt, similar to what the EU had during the pandemic, and floated
boosting the EU's own resources with revenues from the EU carbon tax or a tax
on financial transactions.
Macron's proposals
The French
president made a series of new proposals in the areas of defense, economy and
trade that he said could put Europe back on the right track.
Macron said
the EU should aim to become a "world leader" by 2030, with
"dedicated financing strategies" in five strategic areas: artificial
intelligence, quantum information, space, biotechnologies and new energies.
Macron
called for "a growth objective, or even an objective of
decarbonisation" to be added to the missions of the European Central Bank.
"We can't have a monetary policy whose only objective is one of inflation
[control]," he said.
On
Thursday, Macron also called for a "revision" of Europe's trade
policy, to "defend our interests."
"It
can't work if we are the only ones in the world to respect trade rules that
were written 15 years ago, when the Chinese, the Americans, no longer respect
them in subsidizing critical areas," he said, adding that Europe must
systematically resort to "instruments of loyal competition."
To respond
to Europe's massive new needs in terms of defense, the French president invited
Europeans to build "a European defense initiative" which "might
include an anti-missile European shield," a ongoing bone of contention
between France and Germany.
Macron also
pleaded in favor of imposing "a European preference" in the purchase
of military equipment, arguing that too much EU money was being spent on
non-European manufacturers.
Not the same man
In speaking
at the Sorbonne University, the French president was trying to recapture the
spirit of his first speech on Europe as a freshly elected president in 2017,
which had initially received a cool welcome in several European capitals, but
was later largely vindicated by geopolitical events.
France's
push for greater European strategic autonomy and sovereignty has now been
echoed by the European Commission but also by other EU countries.
Macron
spoke for 90 minutes on Thursday, in a half-empty amphitheater. His conclusion
that he remained "optimistic" for Europe, could not however distract
from the fact that a much-weakened French president was addressing France and
his European partners.
Macron in
2024 cuts a far different figure than the one who spoke in 2017. The French
president has since lost an absolute majority in parliament and has struggled
to pass legislation at home. The country's reputation abroad has been harmed by
headline-making protests against his flagship pensions reform and recent fiscal
woes, including higher than expected deficit figures.
Macron's
speech was also meant to jumpstart the flagging election campaign of his
Renaissance party, led by Valerie Hayer, that is trailing the far-right by over
10 points. The French president did not mention the campaign but took aim at
"nationalists" that no longer argue in favor of leaving the EU but
simply of disrupting it from the inside.
In the face
of rising populism, "the risk is that everybody is becoming more
timid" for fear of feeding more nationalism. "But the response is not
timidity, but audacity."
Toward the end of the speech, the French
president turned philosophical about the future of the Continent. “We can even
ask ourselves, what is a nation? What does Europe want to become?” he said.
“This is a
decisive moment, a turning point. Our Europe can die.”
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