This part of Macron's speech has people talking here

It's often said the euro was set up only halfway, as monetary without fiscal union. Eurogroup was an effort to fix that

Schengen was also set up only halfway. Open internal borders but without EU control over external borders
I beat this analogy to death I know, but imagine if in🇺🇸 the border states were the only ones with authority over national borders.

Would people in New Jersey be comfortable with Arizona being in charge of their border security?

Change that to France & Poland and you've got 🇪🇺
The external borders of the US are run entirely by the federal government. There is constitutionally-guaranteed free movement between US states.

That the external borders are run collectively by all states, not just the border ones, gives everyone confidence to have open travel.
That confidence is missing in 🇪🇺. The border states complain about being overwhelmed & underresourced, but refuse EU border management.

Many in W Europe are horrified by 🇵🇱🇧🇬🇬🇷🇮🇹 border policies and treatment of migrants. Others don't trust those countries to keep border secure.
There's two answers to that lack of confidence and trust: end passport-free travel within the union, or have all member states collectively manage the external borders - at least partially - to restore confidence.

The 'Schengen Group' would decide which way to go.

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More from @DaveKeating

9 Dec
President Macron speaking now outlining his intentions for France’s presidency of the Council of the EU, which starts 1 January.
Macron says he wants to set up a decision-making body for the Schengen Area like the Eurogroup for the Eurozone.

It would take decisions on emergency actions and Frontex missions at EU borders (a step toward EU external border management).
Macron says the suspension of EU budgetary rules for the pandemic needs to end, and EU states need to get back to convergence.

But “we can’t pretend like nothing’s happened”. Budget rules should be less stringent (a long time French ask).
Read 9 tweets
9 Dec
#Macron will in a speech today present ambitious plans for the French 🇪🇺 presidency starting 1 Jan that go far beyond the remit of what a presidency is supposed to do, which is only agenda-setting.

Europhiles may like it when its Macron, but they didn't when it was Janša(🧵1/10)
Though they're often referred to as the "rotating EU presidency" these 6-month stints are actually just the presidency of the Council of the EU, the upper house of the EU legislature in which ministers take votes on legislative proposals. (🧵2/10)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidenc…
In French the word 'president' is often used when in English we might say 'chairperson' (hence the confusion over the role of the President of the European Parliament, who is more like a Speaker of the House in the UK). 🧵 (3/10)
Read 10 tweets
3 Dec
Breaking: #Belgium is not going into #lockdown.

After considering closing bars/restaurants (nightclubs already closed), gyms, theatres, Christmas markets & home gatherings, the government has decided only to close schools.

Press conference starting now:
Important for EU bubble folks: private indoor events will be prohibited form 6 December *except in homes*.

My reading of this is that it wouldn't allow for in-person conferences. But let's see what they say at the press conference.
“The situation is no longer tenable’” says Belgian PM @AlexanderDeCroo.

“This Autumn’s wave has been much more severe than we had anticipated. The infections are among the highest in Europe.”
Read 12 tweets
3 Dec
Stumbled upon this fascinating essay about origins of the French term "Anglo-Saxon" (meaning chiefly 🇬🇧🇺🇸 but also 🇦🇺🇳🇿🇮🇪🇨🇦).

It was invented under Napoleon III at same time the term "Latin America" was coined to justify French intervention in Mexico. aeon.co/essays/the-ang…
Anglo-Saxon is a term that confuses English-speakers.

In the UK it simply means the Germanic tribes who established England and in the US it's associated with the ethnic term WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant), meaning the historically privileged American ethnicity/religion.
For the French, "Anglo-Saxon" is an economic & cultural model usually set up as a bogeyman associated with capitalism or multiculturalism (its origin had racial meaning also).

"The Anglo-Saxon is a mirror on Frenchness; it is France’s alter-ego and often its most feared enemy."
Read 6 tweets
29 Nov
I really don't understand conservatives in 🇺🇸&🇬🇧 who demand a crackdown on illegal immigration but also refuse to even consider any national ID system or population register because that would be 'big government'.

You cannot have well-controlled immigration and small government.
This is the point 🇫🇷 are making by saying 🇬🇧 is making itself "attractive" to migrants crossing the channel.

The "attraction" is the lack of a national ID system and population register in UK which makes it easier to live/work illegally than in continental Europe, which has IDs.
In 🇺🇸, Republicans in Arizona enacted controversial "papers please" law which mandated police to ask for legality proof from anyone suspected of being an ilelgal immigrant (aka, non-white).

You cannot ask that if there isn't a requirement for *everyone* to carry a national ID.
Read 4 tweets
25 Nov
Migrants caught in the middle of a disastrous low in Anglo-French relations.

UK politicians blaming French for lack of border vigilance. French politicians blaming British for extensive black market labour conditions that act as a pull across the channel. politico.eu/article/france…
"Everyone knows there are more than 1.2 million illegal immigrants in Great Britain, and that British employers use this labor force to make things that the British manufacture and consume," says French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
This is a point European politicians have long made privately, but never so publicly before.

They say it's easier to work as an undocumented worker in UK than in continental Europe, which is why people try to cross the channel even after they've already snuck into EU/Schengen.
Read 4 tweets

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