STRASBOURG, France, April 17 (Xinhua) -- In an impassioned address to the European Parliament here on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron made an appeal to the European Parliament for major reforms that have been a part of his platform since assuming the presidency in May 2017.
"I do not want to be part of a generation of sleepwalkers," the French head of state told Members of European Parliament (MEPs) gathered for a plenary session, in a speech organized as part of a continuing discussion at the legislature on the future of Europe.
Warning against a climate of division in Europe, which he likened to a "civil war", Macron noted "there is a fascination with the illiberal that is growing more and more."
"European democracy is our best chance," he said, just days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his nationalist position and his defiance of some major European initiatives such as refugee resettlement, won a third term by a large margin.
In his appeal for a stronger European Union (EU), Macron pushed his major policy positions for reform, including a changed European Monetary Union (EMU), joint European defense, a digital tax on major tech companies, and climate policy.
Observers said the French president's speech was a fiery refusal of populism and extreme right politics, but with a sense of time running out for change to be possible, notably with increased resistance on the part of France's closest EU partner, Germany.
Janis A. Emmanouilidis, a senior policy analyst and director of studies for the Brussels-based think tank European Policy Centre (EPC), told Xinhua: "The tone and content of Emmanuel Macron's speech in the European Parliament shows that he does not think that the window of opportunity for EU reform has closed."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition of center and center-right parties, however, has shown resistance to Macron's most ambitious proposals for further European integration, including from conservative wings within her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, even if the French President revealed himself to still think reform possible.
"There is still hope that Merkel will be able to muster the political will and courage needed to reach a meaningful compromise," Emmanouilidis said, "But time is running out."
Macron was more reserved in his call for reforms to the EMU, according to policy analyst Robin Huguenot-Noel, also from EPC: "Macron's speech was quite timid on EMU reform. Yes, the window of opportunity is closing in Germany. But France scaling down its own ambitions won't help the reformist camp."
In perhaps the most telling sign of Macron's position, the French president called for more ambitious reforms on climate policy, and revealed his belief in France's ability to consolidate its role as a world leader on climate change, following the countries guiding role in the 2015 COP21 meeting that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement.
"Macron linked some of the driving principles and policy preferences in the field of climate to his overall vision for the EU," explained Marco Giuli, an EPC policy analyst.
"Helped by an understanding of climate priorities that is different from previous generations of politicians, he sees climate diplomacy as a platform to enhance France's role on the international stage, and the EU as an amplifier for France's ambitions," Giuli said.
Whether Macron can affect change in Europe through climate policy will require effective leadership on concrete issues, such as the EU budget for 2021 to 2027. The European Commission is expected to submit its proposal for the multi-annual budget in early May, after which France will try to negotiate a shared position with its German neighbors.
"The first test of France's political agility will be the EU budget negotiations," Giuli said. "We shouldn't expect an easy fix, as stark differences persist with the traditional German climate approach, which is aimed at leading by national example whilst mostly acting as a status quo power at the EU level."
Macron continued his campaign for European reform Tuesday afternoon in Epinal, eastern France in order to help create momentum one year before European Union legislative elections in 2019.
On Thursday, the French president will travel to Berlin to meet Merkel for discussions on the future of the eurozone.
