The German chancellor pronounced, on August 29, in Prague, a speech which was ultimately little commented on by French policies but which is for us an important document, likely to lay the foundations for a new European project shared between France and Germany. This text is not complete and we have our own proposals to highlight, but it is a stimulating basis for discussion between French socialists and German social democrats.
Olaf Scholz claims the need to carry a new European project on the baptismal font. Based on a peace project turned inward, the European Union (EU) must now defend its values and ensure its independence and its stability also vis-à-vis the outside, it must assume to have interests geopolitical and strategic. He insists on the rule of law, “fundamental value which should link our union”. It offers a European rapid reaction force in 2025, that is to say tomorrow, and an air defense system.
If Europe is built on its values and a humanist social project, then it must welcome peoples who want to join this fight and accept a new enlargement, including Ukraine. He balances this enlargement and the generalized passage to the qualified majority, in particular on tax policy, to make Europe governable again and capable of going collectively from the front.
a new balance
Olaf Scholz also insists on the need to end unilateral dependencies and on the definition of a new balance between the necessary economic opening to the rest of the world and the objective of European sovereignty. “Made in Europe 2030” is a watchword that we take up and which implies a profound reform of competition policy, commercial policy and, add us, common agricultural policy.
The Chancellor finally makes “investing together” his political priority, subordinating European economic governance to succeed the stability pact. Investing in building the industrial and health sovereignty of Europe, investing in order to succeed in ecological transition, investing to fight against social and territorial inequalities, this is a prospect dear to French socialists.
This text may appear as too turned east; It is cruel for France, rarely cited. This absence is an alert which calls for a double awareness. The tilting from Europe to the east and the Balkans is not a danger to fight, it is a historical, human and geopolitical reality that our country must take on the features. The Franco-German couple must be refounded; The shortcomings of Olaf Scholz’s speech bear witness to a lesser proximity and real problems that break out in broad daylight with the postponement of the Franco-German summit.
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