A French presidency of the Council of the EU that promises to be agitated

According to the Élysée, three words symbolize this presidency of the Council of the European Union: revival, power and belonging. This is also the motto chosen by Emmanuel Macron who wanted to explain the goal of this French presidency during his press conference, Thursday, December 9: “ I would say that we must move from a Europe of cooperation within our borders to a Europe that is powerful in the world, fully sovereign, free of its choices and master of its destiny. This is the objective. ”

An ambitious presidency

What are the priorities posted for the next six months? Emmanuel Macron wishes reform the Schengen area so that the European Union protects its borders in the face of migratory crises. He also wishes to rethink Europe’s budgetary framework – defined so far by the criteria of Maastricht, that is to say put back on the table the question of the 3% deficit that he considers exceeded.

The environment with the European Green Pact, digital technology, European civic service, the issue of a minimum wage are also part of the French priorities which will be addressed during the 400 meetings scheduled. And then Africa, with the holding of a summit between the African Union and the European Union on February 17 and 18 in Brussels in order to ” overhaul in depth ” the relationship ” a bit tired Between the two continents, is also at the heart of French concerns.

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Ambitious goals, but not necessarily the right ones, according to David Cormand, French MEP, member of the Europe Ecology-The Greens party: “ I have the impression that we are going to have a French presidency of the European Union of forums, large meetings, large eloquence competitions. But what are the concrete issues that we can move? I see a number of them: one on everything relating to agriculture and in particular the risks associated with pesticides, etc. A second aspect on the question of fair taxation. And then there is another subject which is the question of migrants: personally, I am worried because I hear a President of the French Republic who talks about this subject as a problem, like something where it is necessary have a repressive attitude. However, today the European Union is behaving irresponsibly, which is not acceptable. ”

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Hardly achievable goals

The subjects that Emmanuel Macron wish to tackle are numerous and the risk that they will not progress at the hoped-for pace exists, according to Frédéric Allemand, researcher in European studies at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance of the University of Luxembourg. and lecturer at Sciences Po Paris Rennes: “ The question that arises is to know if, in view of all the files that President Macron wants to address, he will have sufficient material time to unblock a certain number of delicate subjects, or if, on the contrary, he will be taken up by time. and it will only pass over that presidency. ”

This question of time is at the heart of this French presidency, because even if it was eagerly awaited by Emmanuel Macron, many voices are raised, like that of Raphaël Glucksmann, French MEP, co-founder of Place Publique and close to the Socialist Party, to criticize the calendar and the fact that it takes place in the middle of the electoral campaign, while a presidential election is scheduled in four months: ” There, the French presidency, it will be reduced to what? Three months in fact instead of six. And when we listen to President Macron in his speech, even if there are many points that I share, well we realize that six months would already be far too short to launch all the projects he promises to launch and that three months seems totally unrealistic. ”

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A presidency in the midst of an electoral campaign

Critics on the fact that there will therefore not be time to carry out all these themes, but also concerning the mixture of genres, according to Manuel Bompard, French MEP, member of La France Insoumise (LFI): ” I still regret the question of the calendar which will create, at the national level, suspicions about the use for electoral purposes of the French presidency, of the 400 events which will take place before the date of the presidential election; but which will also create suspicions at the European level of the use of the European presidency for national purposes more than in the sense of a general interest or to advance a certain number of files within the European Union . ”

For the MEP from La France Insoumise, like many other French MEPs, “ it would have been fairer, more relevant, to postpone the French presidency, for example to the following semester, which would have allowed the elected President of the Republic to have more weight and legitimacy to advance a certain number of files. This question of the calendar comes up regularly on the table.

But for researcher Frédéric Allemand, that does not pose a problem in itself: “ This is not the first time that a French presidency has been exercised even though a presidential election is scheduled for the same period. It must be understood that this is an important moment for the French authorities, the government first and the Head of State as well, to be able to participate and contribute to the European work, to the political process, as to the legislative process. ”

This French presidency of the European Union therefore promises to be complicated, given the number of issues to be addressed and above all because it is taking place in the middle of an election period. This therefore risks reducing its scope, and creating controversies with the other presidential candidates.

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