Republikanergarden under 100-årsmarkeringen lørdag. Frankrig kan drømme om gloire og fordums storhed.

EU mangler fremdeles en ægte politisk, finansiel og militær enhed, beklager Frankrigs finansminister Bruno Le Maire i et eksklusivt interview med Handelsblatt.

Frankrig er rede til at gøre sit for «mere Europa», men bolden ligger hos Tyskland, siger Le Maire, som mener at EU bør blive intet mindre end et imperium.

Finansministerens vision for EU fremgår af den tyske avisens sammendrag af interviewet på engelsk:

The European Union should become “a peaceful empire” in order to stand up to China and the US, Le Maire argued. And although thanks to their wartime history, some Germans may find his talk of empire unattractive, Le Maire explains that, “I am using this phrase because, in tomorrow’s world, it’s going to be all about power … technological power, economic, financial, monetary, cultural power – all will be decisive. Europe cannot be shy any longer about using its power.”

Militærmagt nævner han imidlertid ikke.

Blandt de ting, finansministeren ønsker sig for at opnå alt dette, er et fælles budget for hele eurozonen, noget tyskerne bestandig har strittet imod:

Strengthening the euro zone was another priority on Le Maire’s list to establish Europe as a global power. “If a new financial and economic crisis would erupt tomorrow and affect Europe, the euro zone would not be able to respond adequately,” he said. Establishing a common euro zone budget, which would support euro countries in times of crisis, is crucial to this, Le Maire said.

Le Maire mener det haster med at tage skridtet nærmere en tættere union:

“We have talked about it for a long time. Now it’s time for decisions. And there will be decisions made on December 4, at the next meeting of the economy and finance ministers. I cannot imagine anything else.”

Den franske finansminister mener dette er nødvendigt for at kunne håndtere Trump-administrationen:

“Everybody knows it takes guts to stand in the way of Donald Trump’s administration,” Le Maire said. “The people of Europe have had enough of the babble from Brussels. They want to see action.”

Som eksempel nævner han de sanktioner, USA har iværksat mod Iran efter at USA trak sig fra atomaftalen med Iran: Disse har gjort det vanskeligt for europæiske selskaber at handle med Iran, siger Le Maire.

Frankrigs finansminister vil ikke desto mindre samarbejde med USA om forholdet til Kina:

Le Maire also agreed with American criticisms that Europe was “too timid” in defending itself against Chinese acquisition of its technology. Europe must cooperate with the United States to rein in Beijing’s trade policies, the minister said. Asymmetric market access, intellectual property abuses and state subsidies were particularly worrying, he said.

For EU’s videre udvikling er to ting afgørende:

Hvad sker med Tysklands EU-politik og den fransk-tyske akse, når Merkel forlader den politiske scene?

Og vil de politiske partier, som er modstandere af en tættere union, opnå en stærk nok repræsentation til at de kan stikke kæppe i hjulene for sådanne planer? Er det sandt som Le Maire hævder, at folk i EU vil se den form for action, som han ønsker sig?