French President Emmanuel Macron said the European Union must stop being naive in the face of growing competition from the US and China, and repeated calls for a “buy European” strategy in key sectors such as defense.
He also called for a doubling of EU public financing, adding that the current generation faces an unprecedented “wall of investment” to pay for security, the climate transition, AI and other challenges.
“Europe is the last place where we’re open to the rest of the world without a European preference and without rules,” Macron said in a speech in Dresden, on the second day of a state visit to Germany. “Go to China, go to the US! We want to develop trade but there are national preferences.”
The president said the EU needs a “European preference” in sectors such as defense and space and must create a “buy European” strategy, as well as having trade rules that build reciprocal clauses and fair competition.
“Let’s double our European budget, either through the size of the budget, or through joint borrowing strategies, or through existing instruments,” Macron added. “Twice as much public investment in our Europe, together.”
Macron is on a three-day state visit that will test his ability to overcome differences with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and find common ground on issues ranging from military aid to Ukraine and deepening capital markets, to trade with China.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the two countries are aiming to unveil plans this week for closer cooperation to strengthen Europe’s air defenses as they respond to pressure for Europeans to commit to their own security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a joint op-ed published in the Financial Times on Monday, Macron and Scholz called for progress on a capital markets union that encourages companies to fund growth and Europeans to invest savings within the bloc.
“We will have to relaunch the European securitization market, improve the convergence and efficiency of the supervision of capital markets across the EU, harmonize relevant aspects of corporate insolvency frameworks and tax law, simplify the regulatory framework and develop a simple and effective cross-border investment and savings product for all,” they wrote.
They also said Europe must “make full use of and significantly accelerate existing EU instruments” from common projects to public procurement and “considering a more strategic approach in relevant sectors.”