[D-G] EU Macron: EU Sovereignty interview in The Economist

[Johnatan Petterson]

The Economist went to China with Emmanuel Macron and he gave the interview
which you can view here:

https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-in-his-own-words-english


Summary of the Interview:


Europe needs to be centralized a bit like the United States in Toqueville's
book on Démocratie en Amérique

The "grammar" of the world has loomed up away from the illusion of peace
thru economic glamour after the fall of the Warsaw Pact and USSR
 something important: power and sovereignty

in that light according to Macron Europe should focus on its Sovereignty
that includes, centralized budget, investment spending on Defence and
Technology
and Macron link the growth of Europe to the development of Humanism and
Democracy since Enlightenment (18thcentury)
he finds that UK turned to a kind of "Singapour" model that shall benefit
the Elites of UK, even though (paradoxical)  if the Middle-Class are the
ones who voted for Brexit
Macron defends authorship creation as base of this humanism, and middle
classes come related to this issue

the fragmentation of the EU is not so much the economic operator factors but
the trust in USA: most people saving are going to the Future of USA
(Treasury Bunds)
and Poland is fearing any discussion with Russia that would forshadow USA
umbrella

But yet Macron says that USA since Obama during Trump (now) and thus after
Trump will grow more and more Pacific
and ask of EU to look for itself (a bit the same is required from   Israel)
Macron sees EU role as balance of US power, which is the condition for good
relation with neighbours
(Africa, Middle-East Russia)
thus a different diplomacy that the English speaking world, yet this
imposes Sovereignty in the new "grammar" : to have a Central Brussels EU
where States be working more like the Communities in USA: an internal re -
articulation of the States roles with Brussels Institutions (Commission &
Parliament) as Federal Union's
Trump and USA will look to EU only as business and Nato as retrieval of
money for USA, provided the ideology partnership between both continents
withstand
so that NATO has become obsolete in Macron's opinion it has  "no brain" as
shows Turkey recently going rogue in its South Border with Syria

France has some good relation with Germany but Germany lags behind but is a
trusted partner to France in the long run

There are division west -east (migrant) and north south (economy) in EU
that hit the middle classes morale, which poses the main threat for ease of
governance in EU

Macron's solution to this is Humanism that is "help to development health
and education " both within EU border and with neighbours

several extracts from the Interview now:

<<The rise of radical political Islam is undoubtedly the foremost enemy of
European humanist values, which are based on the free and rational
individual, equality between women and men, and emancipation. The model of
subjugation and domination today is that of radical political Islam. How do
you fight this? You can say, when they resort to terrorism, I’ll fight
them. The other way is by fostering democracy, by demonstrating that other
models, including cultural, economic and social models, can emerge.>>


§


 <<I’m in favour of making things more effective, deciding more quickly,
more clearly, changing the dogma and ideology that drive us collectively
today.   >>

§

<<First of all, there’s a factor which we may have underestimated, which is
the principle of the sovereignty of the people. And I think that the spread
of values, of the humanism that we hold high, and the universalisation of
these values in which I believe, only work to the extent that you are able
to convince the people. We’ve sometimes made mistakes by wanting to impose
our values, by changing regimes, without popular support. It’s what
happened in Iraq or in Libya. It’s perhaps what was envisaged at one point
in Syria but failed. It’s an element of the Western approach, I would say
in generic terms, that was a mistake at the beginning of this century,
undoubtedly fatal, and sprang from the union of two forces: the right to
intervene with neo-conservatism. And these two forces intertwined and
produced dramatic results. Because the sovereignty of the people is in my
opinion an unsurpassable factor. It’s what made us what we are, and it must
be respected everywhere.  >>



so if I get it right for Macron the main issue (as France is willing to
intervene in Mali and Syria) to be addressed is the influence of Neo
Conservatism, both in the US and  in EU

best regards

Johnattan Petteron