It does not seem like an exaggeration or a mantra that will not be fulfilled: Europe is in danger and a leader as influential on the continent as the president of France, Emmanuel Macronhas not mince words and has been very forceful and even alarmist: “If we do nothing, Europe will be wiped out in five years”he has warned.
The words were spoken, we do not know if calculatedly or improvised, during an exceptional conversation with journalists from some of the main European newspapers, held in the Elysee Palace., whose questions and answers have been published in full .
Macron describes a scenario of deep geopolitical rupturecomparable—or even superior—to the 2008 financial crisis, the Covid pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The difference, he emphasizes, is that now Europe is alone.
The “Greenland moment” and the end of illusions
For Macron, the psychological trigger has been what is called the “Greenland moment”: the explicit threats of the American president on the Danish island, together with his commercial strategy and his openly transactional vision of alliances.
Europe, he says, has lived for too long under a comfortable illusion:
- USA would guarantee your safety.
- Russia would supply cheap energy.
- China It would be an infinite export market.
The three certainties have been blown up. “We are 450 million people who always believed that someone would come to help us,” says Macron. “Today we know that is not the case”.
When Europe acts united… and when it doesn’t
The French president insists on a clear historical lesson: Europe fails when it reacts late and dividedand advances when it acts quickly and united.
Remember the 2008 financial crisis, which originated in the US, but whose effects hit the EU hardest due to its lack of coordination. In contrast, two moments of success stand out:
- The pandemicwhen in a few months a joint stimulus plan of 750,000 million euros was approved, after the Franco-German agreement with Angela Merkel.
- February 2022, when the EU took only 48 hours to support Ukraine.
Today, he warns, the shock is different: it is not punctual, it is structural.
Double pressure: China and the United States
Macron talks about a simultaneous double bill. On the one hand, the “Chinese tsunami”: China accumulates a trade surplus close to a trillion eurosa third with the US and a third with Europe. Historical sectors such as the chemical industry, automotive and mechanical engineering – especially in Germany and Italy – are losing competitiveness at high speed.
On the other hand, the US is no longer a predictable partner. Tariffs, pressure on allies and political volatility create, in Macron’s words, a “microsecond instability” that prevents long-term planning.
From spectators to actors… or irrelevance
The European dilemma, according to Macron, is very simple: being actors and not spectators, which in this case implies a “happy submission”, not bothering anyone and adapting to the result, he warns, is the progressive disappearance of the European industrial fabric. In some sectors, he says, “we have already lost everything”.
That is why he insists on thinking of Europe as a power, something that the continent deliberately avoided after 1945 for fear of repeating internal wars.
Four pillars to survive
Macron outlines a concrete roadmap:
- Simplify rules and deepen the single market: Europe has become overloaded with regulation. There is consensus, he says, on eliminating superfluous rules, as Mario Draghi recommended in his report on competitiveness.
- Business diversification and risk reduction: more agreements with partners such as India or Canada. Macron defends the strategy, although he criticizes “poorly designed” agreements such as Mercosur, for not including climate or fair competition clauses.
- Protection without protectionism: European preference for European products. “China protects its industry. The United States protects its industry. Our market is the most open in the world,” he recalls. If others ignore WTO rules, Europe must defend itself.
- Massive and joint investment: defense, ecological transition, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Europe invests far below China and the US.
The taboo of common debt… and Eurobonds
The key is money. Draghi estimates that Europe needs 800 billion euros annually, not counting defense. Macron proposes something politically explosive: joint European debt, through Eurobonds, destined exclusively for future investment.
He argues that Europe has 30 billion euros in savings, poorly investedwhich today finance debt and foreign markets, especially the United States. The world, he says, demands European safe assets, but the EU does not offer them in sufficient quantity, he insists.
Macron confirms that the idea of a defense Europe, with a European pillar within NATO, is no longer taboo. Also defends reopening dialogue channels with Russiawithout naivety or impositions on Ukraine. “We can’t let others negotiate for us,” he says. “It’s a matter of self-respect.”
Macron does not hide the seriousness of the moment. The EU, he says, is experiencing an existential crisis. or military, but political and psychological. The old order is crumbling and no one guarantees that the new one will work in Europe’s favor.
