“We are at risk,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced at the Berlin Global Dialogue this past Wednesday.
Many are reporting on Macron’s dire warnings for the EU, but what was perhaps most noteworthy were his statements about the U.S. and the implications for Europe.
“When both the U.S. and China are not following WTO rules, France should not be the only one in the room to play by the book,” Macron said, urging Europe to “preserve a level playing field.”
“Our former model is over… This is not the same world, and on top of that, we are making the same mistakes. We are overregulating and underinvesting,” Macron insisted, adding that the EU would be “out of the market” if changes are not made.
“The EU must deliver its own agenda… The growth model of our countries is at risk… The EU has to deliver more autonomy,” he further enunciated, before delivering a final wake-up call.
The reality today is that “the EU is not a priority for the U.S.,” Macron said, adding that the U.S. is America’s first priority, followed by China. He then went on to clarify Europe’s role in this new reality.
“We are part of NATO, no discussion. We are a strong ally of the U.S., no discussion. But we have to derisk our model from the U.S. agenda,” he declared, before again urging Europe to invest more in the creation of European solutions and to preserve its own financing for such solutions.
“We must act now,” Macron said emphatically, to avoid having to react to an even more dire situation in a few years’ time.
