Macron takes over EU reins amid upcoming elections

PARIS－France takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union on Saturday, giving President Emmanuel Macron the chance to pose as the EU's de facto leader in the run-up to national elections in April.

Macron, 44, has announced an ambitious agenda for the 27-member bloc that could also serve as his domestic campaign for reelection.

"The year 2022 must be a turning point for Europe," he said in a New Year's Eve national address that commended the EU's role during the COVID-19 crisis. The centrist, who made his Europhile views a key part of his political campaign in 2017, is hoping it will again serve him in elections scheduled for April 10 and 24.

"The EU presidency gives him a welcome platform to put his European record to the forefront and differentiate himself from his rivals and bring new proposals, new ideas to the table," said Claire Demesmay, an expert at the Marc-Bloch think tank in Berlin.

Strutting on the international stage has also long been a popular move for any French president.

"The French like nothing more than the image or impression of France being 'at the controls'," said Pierre Sellal, a former diplomat at the French mission to the EU.

To mark the start of the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council, France illuminated historic buildings across the country including the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe in the blue of the EU flag on New Year's Eve.

Each European country gets a chance of holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council, which gives the member state an opportunity to set the official agenda－within limits－for fellow leaders in the bloc and organize minister meetings.

Though the French presidency of the council offers opportunities for Macron, it is also seen by some observers as holding risks.

His agenda to make Europe "powerful" in defense, technology or its own border security risks being overshadowed in the short term by the accelerating COVID-19 health crisis.

Sebastien Maillard, director of pro-EU think tank Jacques Delors Institute in Paris, said Macron will also face pressure to deliver after having ramped up expectations.

'Challenge, opportunity'

"He can't get to the first round (of the presidential election) on April 10 without having obtained some results from the European presidency," Maillard said. "That's the challenge for him, but it can also be a real opportunity."

EU leaders are set to meet in Paris on March 10 and 11, which could be a chance for them to agree on a major reform of the bloc's budget rules.

As symbolic head of the EU Council, Macron will have to walk a fine line as he launches his campaign for reelection, which is expected to be announced formally in February.

Sellal said France's partners would take a dim view of "attempts to instrumentalize the presidency for electoral reasons".

Domestically, opponents have already accused Macron of electioneering and said he should have delayed France's turn at the helm until after the elections. "It's a mistake. He's doing it for his own interests, not those of France," said his right-wing rival Valerie Pecresse from the Republicans party last month.

Eurosceptic opponents such as far-right figures Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour have also wasted no opportunity to portray the whole exercise as meaningless.

"It's been four-and-a-half years that he's been in power and he's obtained nothing and done nothing in the European domain, apart from achieving a sort of submission to Germany in the name of the Franco-German couple," Le Pen told RMC radio in mid-December.

Agencies Via Xinhua