Emmanuel Macron made the case for a more assertive European Union foreign policy over a summit dinner on Tuesday and met with mixed reviews from the bloc’s other leaders, BNN Bloomberg reports.
The gathering near the Slovenian capital Ljubljana was the French president’s first opportunity to let off steam with the EU’s heads of government since the loss of a massive submarine deal to the U.S. last month.
Macron told his colleagues that they need to remember that the EU has serious diplomatic leverage as one of the world’s biggest trading blocs and a major investor in the fight against climate change, according to a person with knowledge of their discussions. He told his EU partners they should act with the confidence of a global power.
Yet the tone of his remarks failed to convince some. Two diplomats said the speech had confirmed their leaders’ suspicions that Macron lacks the bridge-building instincts that helped Germany’s Angela Merkel bring the EU together in moments of crisis. They said their bosses had the impression that for all his talk of European sovereignty, Macron was only really concerned about French interests and his own re-election strategy.
