Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Germany backs France for ‘more sovereign’ Europe: German Foreign Minister

France and Germany bear a "special responsibility" to make the European Union a stronger world power as Paris assumes the bloc's rotating presidency, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told AFP on Friday.

Published: 31 December 2021 11:12 CET
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock holds a press conference at the foreign office in Berlin, Germany
Annalena Baerbock became Germany's first woman top diplomat when the country's new coalition government was formed. Michael Sohn / POOL / AFP

Germany’s coalition government has said it wants to increase the bloc’s “strategic sovereignty” as rivalries between world powers such as the United States, China and Russia adversely affect the EU.

French President Emmanuel Macron has long envisioned a stronger European Union, saying he aimed to make it “powerful in the world” during France’s six-month presidency of the European Council beginning on January 1st.

Germany will also host the next G7 summit in June as president of the group of wealthy democracies, giving the EU a chance to establish global diplomatic leadership in 2022.

The two countries, “as the closest of friends at the heart of Europe, bear a special responsibility for a united European Union, capable of acting and looking towards the future,” said Baerbock.

France’s presidency is “an important opportunity we want to seize together to strengthen Europe and make it fit to rise up to tomorrow’s challenges”, she added.

“Our French friends can count on our support from the first day to the last to prepare the ground for a sustainable economic recovery, in the fight against the climate crisis, in digitalisation and for a more sovereign Europe.”

France’s priorities for its European Council presidency include a bloc-wide minimum wage, more regulation on digital giants and a carbon border tax.

READ MORE:

Member comments

  1. There’s only so much sovereignty to go round. A more sovereign Europe, by definition, means a less sovereign France. I wonder if that’s what people really want and if anyone will ask them.

    1. Russia is a world power in a military context, not an economic one. If the EU wants to build ‘sovereignty’ to be included in this bracket, it must have the means to defend itself like a global power and not rely on the US. This is what Putin fears and would stop him in his tracks.

      1. Since 5 member states are neutral and the rest don’t even pay what NATO expects from them , there’s no chance that the EU will ever be in a position to defend itself.

        1. Exactly. Which is what encourages the Russians to keep testing for weakness.
          The EU as a federal entity is a huge joke. It will never happen. To talk about EU sovereignty is just more hot air.

  2. Russia was promised many years ago that NATO wouldn’t be expanded into its backyard. So why is the German foreign minister supporting NATO expansion into Russian territory? Why is she fighting Nord Stream 2 which Germany needs real bad? If she wants to have a sovereign Europe why is she allowing the United States to encroach on German interests? The last thing we need is to provoke the Russian bear. Check her Wikipedia profile and you will gain an insight.

  3. Europe does need to be more sovereign and I don’t agree NATO is exactly the way to go about it. An EU army that is separate of NATO would be able to defend Europe from cyber attacks, crime, terrorism and Russian militarism. Small nations like the Baltics and Neutral states like Sweden and Finland would be best served by France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland collaborating together to present a United front against all threats.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

What can we expect from Macron’s live interview on the controversial pension reforms?

After a week of political turmoil, strikes and clashes between police and protesters in France, president Emmanuel Macron is set to address the French people directly - so what will he say?

Published: 21 March 2023 14:19 CET
Updated: 21 March 2023 16:48 CET
What can we expect from Macron's live interview on the controversial pension reforms?

The man behind the pension reform that has sparked weeks of strike in France, a political crisis and burning barricades will on Wednesday address the nation.

Emmanuel Macron will give an interview to TV channel TF1 on their lunchtime show on Wednesday, marking the first time he has spoken directly to the population about pension reform since the political debates began.

So what can we expect? 

This will be a live interview, in which Macron answers questions from the French TV stations TF1 and France 2. It will screen at 1pm.

What will he not say?

Macron aides have told the French press that he will not announce that he is dissolving parliament, not will he announce a reshuffle of the government or a referendum on the pension reform.

It hasn’t explicitly been said, but it seems very unlikely that he will announce the thing that protesters have been calling for all week; his own resignation. 

So what will he say? 

We don’t know at this stage, but it seems that Macron is intent on defending the reforms, and wants to speak directly to the French people in a live interview and explain to them why the pension reforms are necessary.

He was reported as saying on Tuesday that: “Obviously, we have not managed to share the merits of this reform with the public.”

It seems that the president will opt for pédagogie – or teaching. Some disillusioned French voters refer to it as ‘Macronsplaining’.

Why now?

Macron himself has largely been absent from the pensions debate, either though the reform is one of his flagship proposals.

Part of this is due to the conventions of French politics; traditionally the president proposes ideas and it is up to the prime minister – who is leader of the government – to guide them through the parliamentary process.

This means that the task of defending the controversial reforms in public has largely fallen to prime minister Elisabeth Borne, as well as labour minister Olivier Dussopt and government spokesman Olivier Véran. It was these three who were burned in effigy by protesters in Dijon, along with Macron.

The last time Macron spoke in detail in public on pension reform was during the election campaign for the 2022 presidential elections – he was re-elected on a platform that included pension reform, and he argues that it is this that gives him a mandate, despite the lack of parliamentary support.

Will he announce the withdrawal or changes to the reform?

The mood in government appears to be a defiant one, but there could be concessions made on certain aspects of the reform, possibly including the timetable for beginning the changes.

At a meeting with his senior ministers on Tuesday, Macron called on his troops to provide ideas in the “next two to three weeks” with a view to adopting “a change in method and reform agenda,” according to a participant who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

At present the government intends to begin the first changes to the pension system in September, with the pension age fully raised from 62 to 64 by 2030.

SHOW COMMENTS