Thread by @morcos_pierre

🇪🇺🇫🇷 President Macron just presented France's priorities for its presidency of the Council of the EU (which starts next January). Brace yourself for a long 🧵 on the main takeaways of a long speech 👇

First, the presidency will happen in a tense strategic environment with rising regional tensions especially in Europe's neighborhood, the persistence of the pandemic, growing global inequalities and climate change.

Against this backdrop, President Macron's ambition is to "move from a Europe of cooperation within its borders to a powerful and fully sovereign Europe that masters its destiny on the global stage".

To achieve this goal, France will promote three priorities: building a more sovereign Europe, developing a new growth model and creating a more human Europe.

1/ First pillar: building a more sovereign Europe. This means:

(i) Better controlling 🇪🇺 borders through a reform of the Schengen area (w/ regular ministerial meetings), the creation of an emergency mechanism to support 🇪🇺 countries under pressure, the migration and asylum pact

(ii) Creating the conditions for a "European strategic sovereignty" with the adoption in March of the Strategic Compass, the first 🇪🇺 white book on security and defense. President Macron notably stressed the need to focus on new domains (space, cyber, maritime).

(iii) Ensuring the stability and prosperity of Europe's neighborhood, especially in:

(a) Africa with a EU-AU summit in February which will aim at developing an agenda on the financing of African economies and cooperation on health, climate, mobility, education and security.

(b) the Western Balkans with a conference in June. This region is "at the heart" of Europe for President Macron who called for a political and economic re-engagement of Europe to promote economic integration, address the issue of minorities, and fight against interference.

2/Second pillar: developing a new growth model for 2030. France will host a summit on March 10-11 to address 4 challenges:

(i) Europe's ability to innovate thanks to investments and industrial alliances in key domains (hydrogen, batteries, cloud, space, semiconductors, health).

This goal would require adapting the 🇪🇺 budgetary framework and adopting a capital markets union.

(ii) Achieving the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 by decarbonating our economies, implementing a carbon tax mechanism or promoting environmental clauses in trade agreements.

(iii) Making Europe a digital power through the support to digital champions, an integrated and regulated digital market (DMA and DSA regulations) and taxation on digital giants.

(iv) Building a social Europe (directives on minimum wage and salary transparency).

3/ Third pillar: creating a Europe on a human scale. This would translate into:

(i) The conclusion in May of the Conference on the future of Europe which aims at making Europe closer to its citizens and could lead to a revision of 🇪🇺 treaties.

(ii) The defense of 🇪🇺 values (which are "existential") notably through the promotion of press freedom.

(iii) An independent work on Europe's history to fight against revisionism.

(iv) Greater people-to-people exchanges through universities and a new European civic training.

All in all, quite an agenda with many meetings and events to be organized across France.

President Macron will be personally involved in many summits and meetings of the European Council. He told the press that he will be engaged "until the last minute" of his mandate (the first round of the French elections is on April 10).

Together with the @csiserep team, I will closely follow the French presidency of the Council of the EU. Follow this space for more news on this important moment for France, Europe and the transatlantic relationship ! [End]