On Monday, May 6, Valérie Hayer's campaign team presented its agenda for the European elections on June 9. The political platform claimed to be exhaustive, with 48 proposals, but its serious tone was one-sided. In front of a dozen or so of her running mates, the presidential majority's lead candidate was in tune with the speech delivered at the Sorbonne by French President Emmanuel Macron on April 25. "We must be conscious today of the fact that our Europe is mortal, it can die," the president declared. Ten days later, out came the platform vision "so that Europe doesn't die," according to Hayer.
Macron camp's flagship proposal is the creation of a fund to support European defense industries, against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a hypothetical military disengagement by the United States in the event of Donald Trump's victory in the November presidential election.
The ambition is to raise €100 billion through a loan from the European Investment Bank. A "European preference" will be enshrined in European law, so that arms orders are placed with continental manufacturers. The aim is to achieve "strategic autonomy" that "will enable us to dissuade aggressors from attacking the European Union," as summarized by Nathalie Loiseau, MEP (Horizons, part of the presidential coalition) and campaign spokesperson, who is also responsible for defense matters. Ultimately, each state's military budget must be increased to 2% of its gross domestic product by 2025 and 3% by 2030.
But the threat to the European Union is not just military. It is also economic, with "partners who only understand power relations" and "powers that want to divide and fragment us," said current MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (MoDem, part of the presidential coalition), campaign spokesperson and an expert in free-trade agreements. To address this situation, the Renew group in the European Parliament – which includes the elected representatives of the presidential majority – is proposing the creation of a "European trade shield," the enforcement wing of which would be a "health Frontex" – in reference to the EU's border and coast guard agency – responsible for ensuring compliance with environmental and health "mirror clauses" by the 27 member states' trading partners.
'A certain naivety'
To counter the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a package of measures that has enabled the US to raise $369 billion (€343 billion) to support its green industries, and therefore compete with the EU – the presidential camp aims to raise €1,000 billion by 2030. Part of this sum will be allocated to drug production and medical research as part of a "Marie Curie plan," in the hope of no longer being "dependent" on China and India. "We need to move away from a certain naivety," Hayer has repeatedly declared.
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