France and German look to “re-found” the EU

Discussions, goodwill and willingness to compromise: these are the three conditions that Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron see necessary to achieve what seems for now impossible: to present a joint proposal to “re-found” the EU, although starting from differing points of view.

The French president wants more investment, increase contribution to the EU budget, and even a single commissioner of economy for the Eurozone. Three factors that threaten Germany’s policies of austerity and its reticence to cede national sovereignty to any form of common fund.

Merkel wants to stay true to the slogan she used in the recent national elections of solidarity and the common good which she believes brought weaker economies, such as that of Spain, through the recent crisis. The fact that it took months for her to form a government may have softened her approach and brought her a little closer to Macron. The French president has taken the initiative and Merkel knows she cannot be left behind, which could be enough to tip the scales in bringing her to the negotiating table with serious proposals and a willingness to take decisive steps. With Macron now suffering from stronger opposition in his own country both leaders have reasons of their own to make things work.