Lacking any organised domestic opposition, Emmanuel Macron is steamrolling through reforms at home. On more distant horizons, he is winning France some soft power back.
But Brussels is the puzzle he can’t quite crack; he’s keen to be seen as making the weather, and yet the institutions are set in their ways, and the power politics hasn’t been playing in his favour.
If only Britain would remain in the club, however, he might be able to unlock everything. A sheepishly returning UK would be in dire need of allies.
Chumming up with a country that has only just walked off in a huff might not be what the pro-European Macron had in mind when he talked about reform, but he should embrace it.
How? Easy. Forget 1,000 years of cross-channel rivalry and suspicion, and establish a new axis of power with London.
Other countries might not like it, but will be worried enough by the situation in Italy, Poland and Hungary to go along with anyone promising to keep the populists in check.
Britain and France reigning hand in hand would be quite the marriage of convenience, but that hasn’t stopped either country before.
British Prime Minister and French President attend an official dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Photo: PA
Why Emmanuel Macron would welcome "Bremain"
Chumming up with a country that has only just walked off in a huff might not be what the pro-European Macron had in mind when he talked about reform, but he should embrace it
July 19, 2018
