Emmanuel Macron outlines vision of Europe and world

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irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/emmanuel-macron-outlines-vision-of-europe-and-world-1.3130157

theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/exclusive-macron-pledges-pragmatism-and-cooperation-with-post-brexit-britain
**Emmanuel Macron outlines vision of Europe and world
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French president wants to ‘find the thread’ of European history
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On the eve of his first EU summit as France’s president, Emmanuel Macron laid out his vision of Europe and the world in an interview with European newspapers…Europe “carries the responsibility” to defend a shared heritage of freedom and democracy, ensure social justice and fight climate change, he said.
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The French leader drew a distinction between the US and Europe. “Democracy is said to have originated in Europe. The US loves freedom as much as we do,” he said. “But they don’t share our taste for justice. Europe is the only place in the world where individual freedoms, the spirit of democracy and social justice converge to such a point.”**
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Europe must now decide whether it wants to defend the “profound values” that for decades inspired the world, or “back down before the rise of bigoted democracies and authoritarian regimes”.
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Though he did not name the governments of Hungary and Poland, Macron condemned “the cynical approach towards the EU which consists of spending its money without respecting its values. Europe is not a supermarket.” He said, “Europe is a shared destiny that is weakened when it accepts that its principles be rejected.”
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He spoke of Europeans as a single people. “I don’t have the arrogance to believe my election stopped [the rise of populism in Europe]. But I have the will to find again the thread of history and the energy of the European people, to stop the rise of extremes and demagogy.”
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The key to relaunching Europe was to create “a Europe that protects”, Macron said. That meant shared policies on defence, security, immigration and asylum. “The present immigration policy puts the burden on a few, and cannot stand up to the next waves of migration,” he predicted. Yet at the same time, he said further institutional integration was impossible “until we have restored the coherence of Europe”. Leadership must come from “an alliance of confidence” between France and Germany, he said.
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Without further integration, the euro zone would be weakened, Macron said, repeating his advocacy for a budget and democratic government for countries sharing the single currency. He wants “the pillars of responsibility and solidarity” to be better defined, and said he had the impression that “Germany is not blocked on that”.
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Macron wants future Franco-British relations to be ruled by “pragmatism”. Defence co-operation, based on the 2010 Lancaster House Treaties, would continue, he said. He promised to prevent camps of migrants seeking to reach the UK from forming again on the channel coast.
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Commenting on US president Donald Trump’s diplomacy by tweet, Macron said “Donald Trump is first and foremost a leader elected by the American people. The difficulty today is that he hasn’t yet drawn up the conceptual framework of his foreign policy. So his politics can therefore be unpredictable, which is a source of discomfort for the world. In terms of the fight against terrorism, he has the same drive for efficiency that I do."
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Macron implicitly blamed mistakes by earlier French, US and British leaders for the intractable nature of conflicts in Syria, Libya and Ukraine.
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“When you set ‘red lines’, if you can’t make them respected, you decide to be weak,” he said, referring to August 2013, when Barack Obama and Francois Hollande backed down on their threats of reprisals over Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons.
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“Facing people who had ‘red lines’ that they didn’t make respected, liberated Vladimir Putin in other theatres of operation,” Macron said. In other words, US and French weakness in Syria emboldened Putin in Ukraine.
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Sojourner003 said:
I can’t argue with him. He hit the nail on the head.
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I concur, he seems to have a knack for taking the bull by the horns and saying it as it is 🙂

I like his candour, for instance when he said in this interview (not quoted in the above):

“National egotisms are slow poisons that bring about the weakening of democracies and a collective inability to rise up to our historic challenge."
 
Vouthon said:
I concur, he seems to have a knack for taking the bull by the horns and saying it as it is 🙂

I like his candour, for instance when he said in this interview (not quoted in the above):

“National egotisms are slow poisons that bring about the weakening of democracies and a collective inability to rise up to our historic challenge."
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I’m loving that guy more every day.
 
Vouthon said:
I concur, he seems to have a knack for taking the bull by the horns and saying it as it is 🙂

I like his candour, for instance when he said in this interview (not quoted in the above):

“National egotisms are slow poisons that bring about the weakening of democracies and a collective inability to rise up to our historic challenge."
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“Weakening of democracies,” as if that is a bad thing.
 
Vouthon said:
I thought I’d…jump on the bandwagon (Ok, we’d better call it a day or we’re liable to start a contagion) :dancing:
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I don’t want to beat around the bush, but he seems to be the best thing since sliced bread. Let’s hope we can judge a book by its cover!..I’m done…for now.
 
He brings up something I never understood: please forgive me if I am being really dense.

Why did the nations of the EU/Schengen agreement not get mad at Merkel when she invited in all those refugees? She put *everyone *on the hook, with no apparent consultation, and yet not a word was said that they were all stuck with her decision.
 
St_Francis said:
He brings up something I never understood: please forgive me if I am being really dense.

Why did the nations of the EU/Schengen agreement not get mad at Merkel when she invited in all those refugees? She put *everyone *on the hook, with no apparent consultation, and yet not a word was said that they were all stuck with her decision.
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Because she had compassion for these people? It’s the right thing to do? That’s my guess. Maybe someone has a better explanation.
 
Sojourner003 said:
Because she had compassion for these people? It’s the right thing to do? That’s my guess. Maybe someone has a better explanation.
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I could have compassion for one group of people but also enough for those with whom I am allied that I wouldn’t cause them to have to spend billions and have their societies disrupted without even discussing it with them first.
 
I can tell you there is absolutely one place where I certainly agree with Macron; and that’s that France should have a king again. I get kind of frustrated when people refuse to criticize a leader: it’s one thing to like him it’s another to think he’s a god. I’m always suspicious when a politician is much more popular than is healthy. I’m sorry but I don’t see him as the greatest president of France of all time
 
adamhovey1988 said:
I can tell you there is absolutely one place where I certainly agree with Macron; and that’s that France should have a king again. I get kind of frustrated when people refuse to criticize a leader: it’s one thing to like him it’s another to think he’s a god. I’m always suspicious when a politician is much more popular than is healthy. I’m sorry but I don’t see him as the greatest president of France of all time
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I don’t see anyone saying he’s the greatest president of France of all time. He has barely even got started yet! He’ll be judged by his record in five years time.

It’s more a case that he has had an uncommonly promising start and has invested other European leaders with much needed momentum to get things moving in the right direction.

That’s no bad thing.

Do you deny that he’s made a mark in Europe and on the world stage already?

Already, he’s becoming quite the force not only in France but throughout Europe as a whole.
 
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