Start of the French EU Presidency

In the Spotlight +++ EU Presidency +++

documentation Start of the French EU Presidency

On 1st January 2022, France took up the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the next six months. President Emmanuel Macron addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 19th January.

Excerpts of President Macron’s speech: “(…) When it comes to defence, lastly, we cannot satisfy ourselves with merely responding to international crises. We need power to anticipate, organizing the security of our environment. Considerable progress, unprecedented in our history, has been made in recent years. During this semester, we will have to ensure considerable progress in many areas, with the adoption of the Strategic Compass that was launched under the German Presidency, with the definition of our own security doctrine, in complementarity with NATO, and with a genuine technological independence, industrial and defence strategy, without which this Europe of Defence is meaningless and an not embedded in reality. As you will have understood from this agenda, the aim is to restore, together, a Europe that is a power of the future: a Europe capable of responding to climate, technological and digital challenges, and geopolitical challenges; an independent Europe that continues to ensure it has the means to decide itself on its future, not depending on the choices of the other great powers. (…) Lastly, Europe needs to build a collective security order on our continent. Our continent’s security requires a strategic reinforcement of our Europe as a power of peace, a balancing power, particularly in its dialogue with Russia. I have been advocating this dialogue for several years. It is not optional, for our history and our geography are stubborn, both for ourselves and for Russia. For security in our continent, which is indivisible. We need this dialogue. We, as Europeans, must collectively set down our own demands, and put ourselves in a position to ensure they are respected. Frank, demanding dialogue is needed in response to attempted destabilization, interference and manipulation. What we need to build is a European order founded on principles and rules to which we have committed, and which we established not against or without Russia, but with Russia, 30 years ago now. And I want to reaffirm that order here: rejection of the use of force, of threats and of coercion; the free choice for States to take part in the organizations, alliances and security arrangements they wish; the inviolability of borders, the territorial integrity of States, and the rejection of spheres of influence. I am talking about principles that we, Europeans, and Russia, signed 30 years ago. It is up to us, as Europeans, to defend these principles and rights that are inherent to the sovereignty of States. It is up to us to reaffirm their value and effectively sanction their breach. Sovereignty is a freedom. It is central to our European project. It is also a response to the attempts at destabilization at work on our continent. That is why we will continue, alongside Germany in the Normandy Format, to seek a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine, which remains the source of the current tensions. (…) Members of the European Parliament, I was born in 1977 and the time of my youth was the time when Europe was an evidence. On the bloodied fields of northern France where I grew up, Europe represented peace as an intangible evidence. Like many of you here, I then experienced the great European doubt, with the French referendum of 2005, the accusation of technocracy, and the risk of the Union breaking up during the sovereign debt crisis. Today, it is up to our generations to renew our Europe to fulfil its promises of democracy, progress and peace. Collectively, we have provided the tools to make our Europe a democratic, cultural and educational power and a power of the future, and a balancing power. To do that, we will have many essential texts in the coming weeks and months and I am counting on close, harmonious work with the European Parliament, given all these texts, and shared ambitions. (…)”

Web EU Presidency website: https://presidence-francaise.consilium.europa.eu/en/