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ANGELA MERKEL

Macron outshines Merkel as EU’s top diplomat

Germany has for years longed for a stronger French partner, but may have got more than it bargained for as the self-confident Emmanuel Macron takes Europe's spotlight.

Published: 16 July 2017 14:36 CEST
Updated: 16 July 2017 16:37 CEST
Macron outshines Merkel as EU's top diplomat
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron leave the Elysee Palace in Paris on Thursday after an annual Franco-German Summit. Photo: PATRICK KOVARIK / AFP
Striking images from Paris this week offered signs of how Europe's de-facto leadership has started to mutate in the two months since Macron took office.
 
The 39-year-old French president welcomed US President Donald Trump to Paris for dinner in the Eiffel Tower and the traditional July 14th military parade.
 
The smiles and glad-handing between the two men contrasts starkly with Trump's dour relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
 
 
The abiding image thus far has been his apparent refusal to shake her hand on her first Washington visit following his inauguration — and the tensions remained on display at this month's G20 summit in Hamburg which Merkel chaired.
 
Macron has also reached eastwards, hosting Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid the spectacular surroundings of Versailles in late May.
 
Macron is showing that “France is back in the game,” said Jean-Dominique Giuliani of the Robert Schuman foundation, a specialist European think-tank.
 
“There's a rebalancing — which was necessary — of the relationship with Germany,” he added.
 
Leader of the free world?
Merkel until recently was alone on the European stage — even being hailed as the new “leader of the free world” by some English-language media after a 2016 that brought Brexit and Trump's shock election victory.
 
In typically German fashion, the chancellor herself has never laid claim to leadership in Europe — a position that would instantly trigger dark accusations about the country's past.
 
If she had the mantle of leadership cast upon her, it was partly because of the lack of a plausible counterweight in France, which for decades partnered Germany as Europe's political dynamo.
 
Struggling economically compared with a thriving Germany and led by the unpopular Francois Hollande, France was long eclipsed by its neighbour.
 
Britain, the EU's other major actor, quit the field of play with a referendum vote last year to leave the bloc.
 
Elsewhere, Poland's voice holds less sway as it faces accusations of drifting towards authoritarianism, while Spain and Italy remain economically anaemic.
 
Macron's arrival in the Elysee Palace as a committed pro-European has roused hopes of a return to the Franco German double act, which forged European integration and created the world's biggest trade bloc.
 
But his vibrant personal style and showcasing of France have also caused some to ask if he would really prefer to be solo.
 
“The Germans were surprised when Trump's visit to Paris was announced,” a diplomatic source told AFP.
 
“Macron wants to use this gesture to flatter the American president and make a name for himself as leader of Europe,” commented German magazine Der Spiegel in this week's edition.
 
By comparison, Merkel has opted for a somewhat tougher course with Trump, criticising the protectionist rhetoric that brought him to power and his decision to abandon the Paris climate accords.
 
Relationship test
Macron, too, has been an open critic of Trump's policies, especially on climate. However, he “didn't greet Trump by rolling his eyes and giving a sermon like Chancellor Merkel at the G20, but with a spectacular military parade, with dinner at the Eiffel Tower, with friendly words and much manly back-slapping,” commented Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
 
“It suggests that Macron could become the EU's top diplomat, displacing Merkel from a role she never really wanted,” the paper continued.
 
 
For now, bashing the US president — a massively unpopular figure in Germany — serves Merkel's domestic political purposes ahead of parliamentary elections in September, when she hopes for re-election to a fourth term.
 
And a more balanced power arrangement is a relief to Germany, conditioned by its Nazi past to shy away from sole leadership in Europe.
 
Macron and Merkel may have conflicting styles, but right now this does not appear to affect the substance of European leadership. Both are wedded to the goal of consolidating the European Union, which faces internal stress from nationalism and the external challenges posed by Brexit and the “America First” Trump.
 
But their relationship will face a critical test after the German elections, when talks on reforming the euro single currency build up steam.
 
At that point, potentially deep divisions between Berlin and Paris are likely to emerge — and it will take more than media-friendly images and rhetoric to bridge them.
For members

EES PASSPORT CHECKS

How will the new app for Europe’s EES border system work?

With Europe set to introduce its new Entry/Exit biometric border system (EES) in the autumn there has been much talk about the importance of a new app designed to help avoid delays. But how will it work and when will it be ready?

Published: 7 May 2024 10:29 CEST
How will the new app for Europe's EES border system work?

When it comes into force the EU’s new digital border system known as EES will register the millions of annual entries and exits of non-EU citizens travelling to the EU/Schengen area, which will cover 29 European countries.

Under the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), non-EU residents who do not require a visa will have to register their biometric data in a database that will also capture each time they cross an external Schengen border.

Passports will no longer be manually stamped, but will be scanned. However, biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard when the non-EU traveller first crosses in to the EU/Schengen area.

Naturally there are concerns the extra time needed for this initial registration will cause long queues and tailbacks at the border.

To help alleviate those likely queues and prevent the subsequent frustration felt by travellers the EU is developing a new smartphone app.

READ ALSO: What will the EES passport system mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The importance of having a working app was summed up by Uku Särekanno, Deputy Executive Director of the EU border agency Frontex in a recent interview.

“Initially, the challenge with the EES will come down to the fact that travellers arriving in Europe will have to have their biographic and biometric data registered in the system – border guards will have to register four of their fingerprints and their facial image. This process will take time, and every second really matters at border crossing points – nobody wants to be stuck in a lengthy queue after a long trip.”

But there is confusion around what the app will actually be able to do, if it will help avoid delays and importantly when will it be available?

So here’s what we know so far.

Who is developing the app?

The EU border agency Frontex is currently developing the app. More precisely, Frontex is developing the back-end part of the app, which will be made available to Schengen countries.

“Frontex is currently developing a prototype of an app that will help speed up this process and allow travellers to share some of the information in advance. This is something we are working on to support the member states, although there is no legal requirement for us to do so,” Uku Särekanno said in the interview.

Will the 29 EES countries be forced to use the app?

No, it is understood that Frontex will make the app available on a voluntary basis. Each government will then decide if, when and where to use it, and develop the front-end part based on its own needs.

This point emerged at a meeting of the House of Commons European scrutiny committee, which is carrying out an inquiry on how EES will impact the UK.

What data will be registered via the app?

The Local asked the European Commission about this. A spokesperson however, said the Commission was not “in a position to disclose further information at this stage” but that travellers’ personal data “will be processed in compliance with the high data security and data protection standards set by EU legislation.”

According to the blog by Matthias Monroy, editor of the German civil rights journal Bürgerrechte & Polizei/CILIP the Frontex app will collect passengers’ name, date of birth, passport number, planned destination and length of stay, reason for travelling, the amount of cash they carry, the availability of a credit card and of a travel health insurance. The app could also allow to take facial images. It will then generate a QR code that travellers can present at border control.

This, however, does not change the fact that fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing into the Schengen area.

So given the need to register finger prints and facial images with a border guard, the question is how and if the app will help avoid those border queues?

When is the app going to be available?

The answer to perhaps the most important question is still unclear.

The Commissions spokesperson told The Local that the app “will be made available for Schengen countries as from the Entry/Exit System start of operations.” The planned launch date is currently October 6th, but there have been several delays in the past and may be another one.

The UK parliamentary committee heard that the prototype of the app should have been ready for EU member states in spring. Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the UK Department for Transport, said the app will not be available for testing until August “at best” and that the app will not be ready in time for October. The committee previously stated that the app might even be delayed until summer 2025.

Frontex’s Särekanno said in his interview: “Our aim is to have it ready by the end of the summer, so it can then be gradually integrated into national systems starting from early autumn”.

READ ALSO: How do the EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Can the system be launched if the app is not ready?

Yes. The European Commission told The Local that “the availability of the mobile application is not a condition for the Entry/Exit System entry into operation or functioning of the system. The app is only a tool for pre-registration of certain types of data and the system can operate without this pre-registration.”

In addition, “the integration of this app at national level is to be decided by each Schengen country on a voluntary basis – as there is no legal obligation to make use of the app.”

And the UK’s transport under secretary Guy Opperman sounded a note of caution saying the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

When the app will be in use, will it be mandatory for travellers?

There is no indication that the app will become mandatory for those non-EU travellers who need to register for EES. But there will probably be advantages in using it, such as getting access to faster lanes.

As a reminder, non-EU citizens who are resident in the EU are excluded from the EES, as are those with dual nationality for a country using EES. Irish nationals are also exempt even though Ireland will not be using EES because it is not in the Schengen area.

Has the app been tested anywhere yet?

Frontex says the prototype of the app will be tested at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, in Sweden. Matthias Monroy’s website said it was tested last year at Munich Airport in Germany, as well as in Bulgaria and Gibraltar.

According to the German Federal Police, the blog reports, passengers were satisfied and felt “prepared for border control”.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

 
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