It is a responsibility that only falls to a French president every 13 years.
Emmanuel Macron hit the nail on the head, and in a hell of a time, since the French presidency of the Council of the European Union is starting in the middle of the presidential campaign.
Admittedly, the head of state did not declare himself a candidate for his own succession.
But it's only a matter of time.
He "wants" to, he confided to the readers of Le Parisien at the beginning of the month.
So many reasons to think that the president took very seriously his great oral speech on Wednesday in Strasbourg before the MEPs, to launch his presidency of the Council.
Opposite, several of his opponents were waiting for him.
Starting with Yannick Jadot, environmental candidate, or Jordan Bardella, the boss of the National Rally since Marine Le Pen relaunched in the race for the Élysée.
Giving Parliament the right to initiate legislation
Emmanuel Macron did not recite the program for the six months of his presidency. During his 20-minute speech, he did his best to convey his vision of the European Union. And its main challenges. “Our European construction is based on three great promises, a promise of democracy which was born on our continent, of progress shared by all and a promise of peace. She kept her promises, but the moment we are living in, the current shake-up, is shaking up these three promises,” he introduces.
He promises a presidency promoting the values that make us. “We are the generation that is rediscovering the fragility of the rule of law”. The Head of State welcomes the management of the health crisis within the Union. We will be at the rendezvous of the fight for liberal democracy, he promises. He defends a fight to be waged to safeguard the sovereignty of peoples. “The French presidency, with Germany, will carry the right of legislative initiative for your Parliament”, he announces.
Emmanuel Macron attacks those who intend to weaken the rule of law.
“The end of the rule of law is the reign of arbitrariness, the sign of a return to authoritarian regimes in the stutter of our history”.
He says he wants to consolidate European values and proposes updating the European Charter of Fundamental Rights to include climate issues and the right to abortion.
Climate and digital challenge
The Head of State explains that he wants to act on employment, to reduce inequalities between women and men or even guarantee a minimum wage.
Texts must arrive in the coming weeks to lead to concrete measures by the end of the French presidency.
Emmanuel Macron then defended a Europe of progress. He makes it the second major axis of his presidency. “The climate is the first of these challenges,” he says. Europe is the continent which has given itself the most ambitious objectives on the planet. We need to move from ambition to action”. It proposes to encourage all players to act, in particular via the carbon border tax mechanism and the adoption of the first law in the world against imported deforestation.
After the climate, Emmanuel Macron promises to fully commit to the digital challenge, to build a true single digital market, through investments in new sectors, an increase in investments that would make it possible to hatch new European champions in the sector .
It proposes texts aimed at economically protecting digital players, but also citizens.
An EU-Africa summit in February
Third challenge announced by Emmanuel Macron: security.
“Europe must arm itself, not out of defiance but to ensure its independence in this world of violence.
He calls for regaining control of the borders, via a reform of the Schengen area.
It also proposes to develop a rapid intervention force to protect the external borders and to increase cooperation with countries neighboring the EU.
Nor could he forget the diplomatic context. On Tuesday, the White House sounded the alarm by saying that Russia was likely to attack Ukraine “at any time”. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently in Kyiv to address this internationally resonant crisis. "Our Europe is facing an escalation of tensions," says Emmanuel Macron. Our model has a responsibility to rethink our neighborhood policy. He calls for the rejection of the use of force. “It is up to us, Europeans, to defend these principles inherent in the sovereignty of States. Sovereignty is a response to the destabilizations at work on our continent. »
He considers it essential to strengthen relations between the European and African continents. To do this, a summit will be held in February. This will include helping Africa fight the epidemic. But not only. Emmanuel Macron intends to implement a
new deal
with Africa, emphasizing the efforts to be made in the areas of education, security and the fight against illegal immigration.
Ties with the United Kingdom will also be an issue, says the President of the Republic, who calls on the British to act in good faith and to clearly respect the commitments made, particularly with regard to fishermen.
"Let's be firm, it's the rule to be respected," he said.
In conclusion, Emmanuel Macron recalls that when he was born in 1977, the European continent was synonymous with peace.
“Our generations have to rebuild our Europe.
We have to give ourselves the means to make Europe a power of the future, of balance.
“All to find a” dream of the future “.
