French President Emmanuel Macron warns ‘Europe could die’ as he calls for stronger defences

Europe must not become a vassal of the US, he said, as he outlined his vision for a more assertive EU on the global stage

Europe risks falling behind economically as global free-trade rules are challenged by major competitors, Macron said

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French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at Sorbonne University in Paris. With just three years left of his second and final term in office, and having lost his parliamentary majority in 2022. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:03pm, 25 Apr 2024Updated: 7:04pm, 25 Apr 2024

President Emmanuel Macron appealed on Thursday for stronger, more integrated European defences and said the continent must not become a vassal of the United States, as he outlined his vision for a more assertive European Union on the global stage.

With just three years left of his second and final term in office, and having lost his parliamentary majority in 2022, Macron, 46, wants to show his critics that he retains the energy and fresh thinking that helped propel him into the presidency in 2017 and that he has not become a lame duck leader.

“There is a risk our Europe could die. We are not equipped to face the risks,” Macron said in his speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris, warning that military, economic, trade and other pressures could weaken and fragment the 27-nation EU.

Macron said Russia must not be allowed to win in Ukraine, and he called for a boost in Europe’s cybersecurity capacity, closer defence ties with post-Brexit Britain, and the creation of a European academy to train high-ranking military personnel.

“There is no defence without a defence industry … we’ve had decades of underinvestment,” he said, adding that Europeans should give preference to buying European military equipment.

“We must produce more, we must produce faster, and we must produce as Europeans,” he said.

Macron said Europe risked falling behind economically in a context where global free-trade rules were being challenged by major competitors, and he called for a reduction in red tape on small and medium-sized businesses.