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Macron to push for reform of Schengen area during EU during presidency

President Emmanuel Macron vowed Thursday France would work towards a strong and "sovereign" European Union and push for reform of the Schengen area when it takes over the bloc's rotating presidency in January.

Published: 9 December 2021 17:44 CET

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a press conference on France assuming EU presidency, in Paris, on December 9, 2021. Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP

The centrist Macron may aim to fill the leadership gap left at European level by the departure of German chancellor Angela Merkel, analysts say.

But Macron, who was elected in 2017 demanding reform in both France and Europe, will also face a battle to be re-elected in April.

France’s aim is “to move towards a Europe that is powerful in the world, fully sovereign, free in its choices and in charge of its own destiny”, Macron told a news conference.

He also called for new mechanisms to protect the EU’s borders, with thousands of migrants gathering on the border between Belarus and Poland in recent months.

Europe “needs to ensure the protection of its borders”, he told a news conference, adding that France would push for reform of the Schengen area of passport-free travel between 26 countries in Europe.

‘Rethink’

Macron also said the EU should reconsider its strict budget deficit rules as governments spend heavily to save their economies from the impact of Covid restrictions.

France will push for a “rethink” of rules that include a demand for deficits to remain below three percent of gross domestic product (GDP), he said.

Turning to environmental issues, he said that France would propose a new EU mechanism to prevent imports of agricultural products from deforested areas when Paris takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency next year.

“We will also advance negotiations on the creation of a European instrument to fight against imported deforestation which will aim to ban imports to the European Union of soya, beef, palm oil, cocoa and coffee when they have contributed to deforestation,” Macron said.

He said France would host an extraordinary EU summit on March 10 and March 11 in Paris, just a month before the presidential election.

The French presidency of the EU comes after Macron was left furious with the United States, Britain and Australia in September after they signed a new security deal called AUKUS that led Australia to abandon its purchase of French submarines.

Macron has yet to formally declare he will stand in the elections although he is widely expected to do so. Recent polls have seen a sudden surge for the challenger of the right-wing The Republicans Valerie Pecresse after she was formally named their candidate.

Member comments

Anonymous - 9 December 2021 at 21:14 CET

Presumably a ‘fully sovereign Europe’ means a less than sovereign France. Not sure how that will sell in April.
Anonymous - 10 December 2021 at 08:07 CET

He really has let the power go to his head. I voted for him because, like many, thought he would be a breath of fresh air, but unfortunately all he has been is a hurricane, filling the Government with young people that have no idea what they are doing.
1. Anonymous - 10 December 2021 at 14:21 CET
  
  The problem with the Presidential system is always too much power vested in one person leads to bravado rather than diplomacy , wild reactive swings in policy and far too little engagement with folk at large.
  1. Anonymous - 10 December 2021 at 15:37 CET
    
    Or just have a court jester that issues meaningless soundbites and dresses up for photoshoots.

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Azerbaijan vehemently rejects the accusation it bears responsibility for the riots that have led to the deaths of five people and rattled the Paris government.

But it is just the latest in a litany of tensions between Paris and Baku and not the first time France has accused Azerbaijan of being behind an alleged disinformation campaign.

The riots in New Caledonia, a French territory lying between Australia and Fiji, were sparked by moves to agree a new voting law that supporters of independence from France say discriminates against the indigenous Kanak population.

Paris points to the sudden emergence of Azerbaijani flags alongside Kanak symbols in the protests, while a group linked to the Baku authorities is openly backing separatists while condemning Paris.

“This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a reality,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told television channel France 2 when asked if Azerbaijan, China and Russia were interfering in New Caledonia.

“I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It’s indisputable,” he alleged.

But he added: “Even if there are attempts at interference… France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better”.

“We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said.

“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”

In images widely shared on social media, a reportage broadcast Wednesday on the French channel TF1 showed some pro-independence supporters wearing T-shirts adorned with the Azerbaijani flag.

Tensions between Paris and Baku have grown in the wake of the 2020 war and 2023 lightning offensive that Azerbaijan waged to regain control of its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists.

France is a traditional ally of Christian Armenia, Azerbaijan’s neighbour and historic rival, and is also home to a large Armenian diaspora.

Darmanin said Azerbaijan – led since 2003 by President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar – was a “dictatorship”.

On Wednesday, the Paris government also banned social network TikTok from operating in New Caledonia.

Tiktok, whose parent company is Chinese, has been widely used by protesters. Critics fear it is being employed to spread disinformation coming from foreign countries.

Azerbaijan invited separatists from the French territories of Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia and French Polynesia to Baku for a conference in July 2023.

The meeting saw the creation of the “Baku Initiative Group”, whose stated aim is to support “French liberation and anti-colonialist movements”.

The group published a statement this week condemning the French parliament’s proposed change to New Caledonia’s constitution, which would allow outsiders who moved to the territory at least 10 years ago the right to vote in its elections.

Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the population.

“We stand in solidarity with our Kanak friends and support their fair struggle,” the Baku Initiative Group said.

Raphael Glucksmann, the lawmaker heading the list for the French Socialists in June’s European Parliament elections, told Public Senat television that Azerbaijan had made “attempts to interfere… for months”.

He said the underlying problem behind the unrest was a domestic dispute over election reform, not agitation fomented by “foreign actors”.

But he accused Azerbaijan of “seizing on internal problems.”

A French government source, who asked not to be named, said pro-Azerbaijani social media accounts had on Wednesday posted an edited montage purporting to show two white police officers with rifles aimed at dead Kanaks.

“It’s a pretty massive campaign, with around 4,000 posts generated by (these) accounts,” the source told AFP.

“They are reusing techniques already used during a previous smear campaign called Olympia.”

In November, France had already accused actors linked to Azerbaijan of carrying out a disinformation campaign aimed at damaging its reputation over its ability to host the Olympic Games in Paris. Baku also rejected these accusations.