Presenting the plans of the French Presidency of the Council, President Emmanuel Macron sought to strengthen the momentum in favor of European integration.
As he characteristically said, the building of Europe is based on three great promises. The promise of democracy, the promise of progress for all and the promise of peace.
For decades, Europe has kept its three promises, but these have been challenged by developments in recent years.
The French President proposed to the European Parliament a new European start to strengthen credibility and to modernize the content of the three key EU promises.
Making an impressive political opening to the European Parliament, Macron argued that he should be given the right to take legislative initiative.
He stressed that the main goal of the French presidency will be to protect the rule of law. He pointed out that it is not just a matter of Brussels, but the result of great struggles of the European peoples to get rid of authoritarianism and totalitarianism. In his view, the rule of law is an institutional treasure that must be protected and enriched.
He called for the adaptation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights to modern reality by clarifying the rights related to environmental protection and the full recognition of the right to abortion.
He put forward the prospect of a Europe of solidarity, with better wages, with decent minimum wages for all, by reducing wage inequality between men and women and recognizing new rights for workers on digital platforms.
He linked the French presidency to the decisions of the Conference on Climate Change, held in Paris in 2015. ” To transform our industries, to invest in the technologies of the future in terms of batteries and hydrogen “.
It linked the green transition to the digital transition and supported the European Parliament’s initiatives to create a regulatory framework that binds the champions of the digital economy and protects competition and our personal data from certain multinational digital economy practices. He also pointed out that a way must be found to put an end to digital manipulation and hate speech.
The aim of the French Presidency is to better control the borders and the European area. Macron’s plans include the creation of an intergovernmental rapid reaction force.
The French president asked the EU not to react to international crises, but to act proactively and to determine, as far as possible, the developments. The French presidency aims to adopt the so-called Compass Strategy, which includes the European security doctrine, complementary to NATO.
The intention of the French presidency is to propose a new alliance on the African continent, which will include a new economic and financial deal.
The French Presidency recognizes the strategic importance of the Western Balkans, but does not appear to be in a hurry to carry out enlargement. The French president insisted that enlargement should not be negative, in the sense of a geopolitical reaction to other forces influencing the region, but positive to contribute to the region’s development and the strengthening of the EU.
He linked the prospect of enlargement to changing decision-making rules to make them faster and more efficient. As he said, with the current rules we can not function as a Europe of “31”, “32” or “33”. That is why, he concluded, “we need to redefine the rules of operation and geography of our Europe.”
Finally, the French president called on Europe to create a system of collective security on our continent, which will highlight the EU. as a force for peace and stability but will also be based on dialogue with Russia.
