Germany and France must break taboos to advance European reforms: Macron

BERLIN / PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday urged Germany and France to strengthen their allied ties in order to promote a more united Europe, notably by overcoming persistent skepticism over issues such as the euro area budget.

Macron has long defended a vision for a more integrated euro area, including through a common budget.

As the European Parliament elections approach next May, the French president has also urged the pro-European forces to mobilize and take concrete political measures to fight anti-immigrant nationalist parties in several member states.

In a speech delivered Sunday in front of the lower house of the German Parliament during an event in tribute to the victims of the war, Mr. Macron said that it was incumbent on France and Germany to prosecute these efforts.

"This new phase can be frightening because we will need to share, share our decision-making processes, our external relations, migration and development policies, an increasing share of our budgets and even our fiscal resources, in order to build a common defense strategy, "said Macron. told the Bundestag.

"We must overcome our taboos and habits."

France and Germany should already establish Monday a draft common budget limited to the euro area, which will focus for the time only on the financing of investments, according to sources of the French Ministry of Finance.

This means that for the time being it will avoid more controversial elements, such as plans to use the budget to help euro-zone countries in times of economic slowdown.

But Macron is also pushing for progress in other areas of integration, including plans for the taxation of Internet giants that Berlin is hesitant about.

CROSSROADS

Macron, who later met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin for talks, spoke in her speech of a world "at the crossroads", opposing nationalist movements "without memory" to those more modern and progressive.

"Europe, and within the Franco-German alliance, has the obligation not to let the world sink into chaos," he said.

Last week, Macron warned against the danger of nationalism during the commemorations in Paris marking the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, causing a general outcry from US President Donald Trump, who had criticized the French leader on Twitter a few days later.

Earlier on Sunday, Macron joined Merkel and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to lay wreaths on the site of the Neue Wache War Memorial in Berlin.

"You have clearly explained in an impressive speech the importance of Franco-German friendship and cooperation and its role in the European context," Merkel told Macron before the Chancery Framework Meeting.

"You said we are at a crossroads … and that's exactly what I perceive," she said. "Those of us born after the war are responsible for the lessons we have learned."

Ms Merkel announced that she and Macron would discuss a wide range of issues, including new digital tax structures, migration and efforts to develop European defense cooperation. .