Emmanuel Macron wants more powers for the EU in health crises

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his support for the European Union to acquire more powers for responding to health emergencies. He said the EU risks being blamed for the continent’s shortcomings in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

After a decade of witnessing a debt crisis and deep internal divisions in migration in Brussels, the coronavirus pandemic risks further aggravating European unity, calling into question decades of integration.

In a video conference with other EU heads of state last week, Emmanuel Macron spoke of the need for the European institutions to have broader powers in several areas, including health, a shared area of ​​competence.

According to a senior diplomat, one of the proposals is to create a scientific panel that delivers unified pan-European recommendations to the Member States in the event of a health crisis.

Emmanuel Macron also urges greater fiscal solidarity and giving the union the right to collect a debt, something that has been opposed by fiscally conservative countries such as Germany.

Italy, now the most affected country by the virus worldwide, has been sharply critical of France and Germany after initially refusing to provide face masks and other equipment to help with the epidemic.

A poll by Monitor Italia last week found that 88% of Italians believe the EU has not done enough to help their country. This shows how a lack of solidarity can hurt public sentiment.

The same poll showed that the proportion of those who believe EU membership is disadvantageous to Italy has risen to 67% from 47% in November.

“It would be devastating if, by the end of this crisis, countries like Italy had concluded that they had been misled by Europe”, a source close to Emmanuel Macron told.

Crisis response

Macron has long been a supporter of deeper integration into the euro area and has often used the phrase “the EU that protects”, emphasizing the need for the EU to propose solutions rather than being viewed by many as a source of problems.

In the past, crises triggered EU action and led to changes in the rules, whether we are talking about rescuing the Member States during the sovereign debt crisis or the refugee quota system during the migrant crisis.

The Coronavirus puts pressure on the EU on several fronts at once. The Schengen agreement has been virtually abolished, state aid rules relaxed, the European Central Bank has launched a 750 billion EUR buyback process and issues of free movement and competition policy are increasingly being raised.

As the pandemic is spreading rapidly and national health systems across Europe are under tremendous pressure, the EU must act faster than usual, some politicians say.