Europe First: Emmanuel Macron towards Reforms and the Future of the European Union
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.21.2024.94.02Keywords:
France, Macron, interests, reform, European Union, European Sovereignty, French-German cooperationAbstract
The research objective of the article is to identify French interests towards EU systemic reform, which constitutes a specific ‘lever’ of France’s European policy. The first part of the analysis presents President E. Macron’s key EU reform proposals and France’s European policy priorities including the concept of European sovereignty as a method of building a ‘Europe of power’. The second part analyzes to what extent the Franco-German duo is driving change in the European political and institutional order. The results showed that the two states derive multifaceted and different benefits from their mutual cooperation, influencing European and global politics more broadly. The article tries to explain, based on the theory of liberal intergovernmentalism, how France uses the EU to promote its own national interests.
Downloads
References
d’Alançon F., Ploquin J.-Ch., “Jean-Yves Le Drian: ‘La France refuse un monde bipolaire,’” La Croix, 16 June 2020, at https://www.la-croix.com/France/Politique/Jean-Yves-Le-Drian-France-refuse-monde-bipolaire-2020-06-16-1201100115.
Beaune C., “L’Europe, par delà le COVID-19,” Politique étrangère, vol. 85, no. 3 (2020), pp. 9-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/pe.203.0009
Becker P., “Germany as the European Union’s Status Quo Power? Continuity and Change in the Shadow of the Covid-19 Pandemic,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 38, no. 8 (2023), pp. 1473-1493, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2022.2085770. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2022.2085770
Bora S.I., Lequesne Ch., “French Presidents and the Discursive Use of European Sovereignty: More Than a Metaphor,” Journal of European Integration, vol. 45, no. 6 (2023), pp. 927-944, https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2023.2212318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2023.2212318
Bora S.I., Schramm L., “Toward a More ‘Sovereign’ Europe? Domestic, Bilateral, and European Factors to Explain France’s (Growing) Influence on EU Politics, 2017-2022,” French Politics, vol. 21 (2023), pp. 6-24, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-022-00203-y. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-022-00203-y
Bouza García L., Oleart Á., “Make Europe Great Again: The Politicising Pro-European Narrative of Emmanuel Macron in France,” in T. Haapala, Á. Oleart (eds), Tracing the Politicisation of the EU: The Future of Europe Debates Before and After the 2019 Elections, London 2022, pp. 271-293, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82700-7_12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82700-7_12
Brzozowski A., “En Belgique, Macron plaide pour une ‘Europe à deux ou trois vitesses’,” Euractiv, 21 November 2018, at https://www.euractiv.fr/section/politique/news/in-belgium-macron-pleads-for-two-or-three-speed-europe-treaty-change.
Crespy A., Schramm L., “Breaking the Budgetary Taboo: German Preference Formation in the EU’s Response to the Covid-19 Crisis,” German Politics, vol. 33, no. 1 (2024), pp. 46-67, https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2021.2020253. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2021.2020253
“Clôture de la Conférence sur l’avenir de l’Europe,” Élysée, 9 May 2022, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2022/05/09/cloture-de-la-conference-sur-avenir-de-europe.
“Conférence de presse de M. Emmanuel Macron, Président de la République, sur les négociations concernant le Brexit et sur la construction européenne, à Bruxelles le 18 octobre 2018,” Vie publique, 18 October 2018, at https://www.vie-publique.fr/discours/206958-conference-de-presse-de-m-emmanuel-macron-president-de-la-republique.
“Conférence de presse du président de la République, Emmanuel Macron, lors du Conseil européen de Bruxelles,” Élysée, 20 October 2017, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2017/10/20/conference-de-presse-du-president-de-la-republique-emmanuel-macron-lors-du-conseil-europeen-de-bruxelles.
“Conférence sur la sécurité de Munich: faire revivre l’Europe comme une puissance politique stratégique,” Élysée, 15 February 2020, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/02/15/conference-sur-la-securite-de-munich-faire-revivre-leurope-commeune-puissance-politique-strategique.
Degner H., Leuffen D., “Brake and Broker: Franco-German Leadership for Saving EMU,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 28, no. 6 (2021), pp. 894-901, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2020.1751678. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2020.1751678
“Discours du Président de la République à la conférence des Ambassadeurs,” Élysée, 27 August 2018, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2018/08/27/discours-du-president-de-la-republique-a-la-conference-des-ambassadeurs.
“Discours du Président de la République au Parlement européen à Strasbourg,” Élysée, 17 April 2018, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2018/04/17/discours-du-president-de-la-republique-au-parlement-europeen-a-strasbourg.
“Discours du Président Emmanuel Macron sur la stratégie de défense et de dissuasion devant les stagiaires de la 27ème promotion de l’école de guerre,” Élysée, 7 February 2020, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/02/07/discours-du-president-emmanuel-macronsur-
la-strategie-de-defense-et-de-dissuasion-devant-les-stagiaires-de-la-27eme-promotionde-lecole-de-guerre.
“Discours sur l’Europe,” Élysée, 24 April 2024, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2024/04/24/discours-sur-leurope.
“Emmanuel Macron in His Own Words,” The Economist, 7 November 2019, at https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-in-his-own-words-english.
“Entretien de M. Clément Beaune,secrétaire d’Etat auprès du ministre de l’Europe et des affaires étrangères, chargé des affaires européennes, avec France Inter le 2 janvier 2022, sur la polémique concernant le drapeau de l’Union européenne sous l’Arc de triomphe, la question migratoire, la défense, l’énergie nucléaire, le salaire minimum et la construction européenne,” Vie publique, 2 January 2022, at https://www.vie-publique.fr/discours/283153-entretien-clement-beaune-02012022-union-europeenne.
“Entretien de M. Jean-Yves Le Drian, ministre de l’Europe et des affaires étrangères, dans «Le Figaro» du 15 octobre 2019, sur les défis et priorités de la politique étrangère de la France,” Vie publique, 15 October 2019, at https://www.vie-publique.fr/discours/271248-entretien-jean-yves-le-drian-15102019-politique-etrangere.
European Union, A Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, at https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/strategic_compass_en3_web.pdf.
Giurlando Ph., “Emmanuel Macron’s Challenge: Ensuring Proximate Parity with Germany,” Modern & Contemporary France, vol. 29, no. 1 (2021), pp. 57-74, https://doi.org/10.1080/09639489.2020.1849080. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09639489.2020.1849080
Heermann M., Leuffen D., Tigges F., “Change to Stay the Same? German European Preference Formation during the COVID-19 Crisis,” German Politics, vol. 33, no. 2 (2024), pp. 411-433, https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2023.2189701. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2023.2189701
Hodson D., Puetter U., “The European Union in Disequilibrium: New Intergovernmentalism, Postfunctionalism and Integration Theory in the Post-Maastricht Period,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 26, no. 8 (2019), pp. 1153-1171, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1569712. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1569712
Howarth D., Schild J., “Nein to ‘Transfer Union’: The German Brake on the Construction of a European Union Fiscal Capacity,” Journal of European Integration, vol. 43, no. 2 (2021), pp. 209-226, https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2021.1877690. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2021.1877690
Howarth D., Schild J., “Torn between Two Lovers: German Policy on Economic and Monetary Union, the New Hanseatic League and Franco-German Bilateralism,” German Politics, vol. 31, no. 2 (2022), pp. 323-343, https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2021.2003331. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2021.2003331
“Initiative pour l’Europe - Discours d’Emmanuel Macron pour une Europe souveraine, unie, démocratique,” Élysée, 26 September 2017, at https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2017/09/26/initiative-pour-l-europe-discours-d-emmanuel-macron-pour-une-europe-souveraine-unie-democratique.
Jasiński Ł., Maślanka Ł., “Niepewna przyszłość tandemu. Stosunki francusko-niemieckie w dobie wojny i inflacji,” PISM, vol. 5, no. 126 (2023), pp. 1-12.
Jasiński Ł., Szczepanik M., “Kanclerz Niemiec o przyszłości Europy,” PISM, no. 114 (2022), pp. 1-2.
Krotz U., Schild J., “Back to the Future? Franco-German Bilateralism in Europe’s Post-Brexit Union,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 25, no. 8 (2018), pp. 1174-1193, https://doi. org/10.1080/13501763.2018.1467951. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2018.1467951
“La doctrine Macron: une conversation avec le Président français,” Le Grand Continent, 16 November 2020, at https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2020/11/16/macron.
“Le pacte de stabilité et de croissance est un instrument au service d’une ambition politique,” La France dans l’UE, 16 June 2023, at https://ue.delegfrance.org/le-pacte-de-stabilite-etde.
Meunier S., Mickus J., “Sizing Up the Competition: Explaining Reform of European Union Competition Policy in the Covid-19 Era,” Journal of European Integration, vol. 42, no. 8 (2020), pp. 1077-1094, https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2020.1852232. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2020.1852232
Milner H.V., Moravcsik A. (eds), Power, Interdependence, and Nonstate Actors in World Politics, Princeton–Oxford 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400830787
Młynarski T., Francja wobec głównych problemów reformy instytucjonalnej Unii Europejskiej w XXI w., Kraków 2006.
Moravcsik A., “Charles de Gaulle and Europe: The New Revisionism,” Journal of Cold War Studies, vol. 14, no. 1 (2012), pp. 53-77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/JCWS_a_00192
Moravcsik A., “Negotiating the Single European Act: National Interests and Conventional Statecraft in the European Community,” International Organization, vol. 45, no. 1 (1991), pp. 19-56, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818300001387. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818300001387
Moravcsik A., “Preferences and Power in the European Community: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Approach,” Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 31 , no. 4 (1993), pp. 473-524, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.1993.tb00477.x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.1993.tb00477.x
Moravcsik A., Schimmelfennig F., “Liberal Intergovernmentalism,” in A. Wiener, T. Diez, European Integration Theory, Oxford 2009, pp. 64-84, https://doi.org/10.1093/hepl/9780198737315.003.0004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/hepl/9780198737315.003.0004
Otero-Iglesias M., “Still Waiting for Paris: Germany’s Reluctant Hegemony in Pursuing Political Union in the Euro Area,” Journal of European Integration, vol. 39, no. 3 (2017), pp. 349-364, https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2017.1281265. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2017.1281265
“Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron Sign Two Joint Declarations on Migration, and on the Economic and Monetary Union,” La Mocloa, 26 July 2018, at https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/Paginas/2018/20180726sanchez-macron.aspx.
Płóciennik S., “Macron musi czekać. O ostrożności Niemiec wobec szybkich reform UE,” Biuletyn PISM, vol. 67, no. 1640 (2018), pp. 1-2.
“Pour une Renaissance européenne,” Élysée, 4 March 2019, at https://www.elysee.fr/emma-nuel-macron/2019/03/04/pour-une-renaissance-europeenne.
Roch J., Oleart A., “How ‘European Sovereignty’ Became Mainstream: The Geopoliticisation of the EU’s ’Sovereign Turn’ by Pro-EU Executive Actors,” Journal of European Integration, vol. 46, no. 4 (2024), pp. 545-565. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2024.2326831. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2024.2326831
Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century, Paris–Berlin, 18 September 2023, at https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/20230919_group_of_twelve_report_updated14.12.2023_cle88fb88.pdf.
Schild J., “EMU’s Asymmetries and Asymmetries in German and French Influence on EMU Governance Reforms,” Journal of European Integration, vol. 42, no. 3 (2020), pp. 449-464, https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2020.1730351. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2020.1730351
Schild J., “Germany and France at Cross Purposes: The Case of Banking Union,” Journal of Economic Policy Reform, vol. 21, no. 2 (2018), pp. 102-117, https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2017.1396900. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2017.1396900
Schramm L., Krotz U., “Leadership in European Crisis Politics: France, Germany, and the Difficult Quest for Regional Stabilization and Integration,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 31 no. 5 (2024), pp. 1153-1178, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2169742. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2169742
Staunton E., “‘France Is Back’: Macron’s European Policy to Rescue ‘European Civilisation’ and the Liberal International Order,” Third World Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 1 (2022), pp. 18-34, https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2021.1994384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2021.1994384
“UE: La France exige plus de ‘flexibilité’ en faveur de l’investissement,” BFM Business, 7 December 2023, at https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/ue-la-france-exige-plus-de-flexibiliteen-faveur-de-l-investissement_AD-202312070413.html.
Węc J.J., “Perspektywy reformy Wspólnej Polityki Bezpieczeństwa i Obrony Unii Europejskiej do 2025 roku. Autonomia Strategiczna UE?,” Politeja, vol. 3, no. 78 (2022), pp. 211-239, https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.78.12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.78.12
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
