Emmanuel Macron, the new French President, is off to a fast start. On Monday, just a day after he was sworn in at the Élysée Palace, the thirty-nine-year-old boy wonder reached across the political divide and appointed a moderate conservative as his Prime Minister: Édouard Philippe, the Mayor of Le Havre, a port city in Normandy. Then Macron flew to Berlin, where, standing alongside Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, he called for “a historic reconstruction” of Europe.

The pick for Prime Minister made political sense. To get his reform program through the French parliament, Macron, who ran for President as the head of a new centrist movement, will almost certainly need the support of other parties. Philippe is a well-connected member of the center-right Republican Party, which was expected to win the recent election until its candidate, François Fillon, got embroiled in a corruption scandal.

From a global perspective, though, the big news of the day was Macron’s press conference with Merkel, during which the two leaders—some commentators have already dubbed them “Merkron”—promised to reinvigorate the twenty-eight-member European Union, which has been in a state of crisis for most of the last decade.

During his campaign, Macron argued that institutional changes were needed to make the E.U.’s economy grow faster, such as creating a pan-E.U. budget and finance ministry. But the Germans have long resisted calls for change. Immediately after Macron’s victory last week, Merkel and other German politicians appeared to rebuff Macron’s proposals. Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, said bluntly that it was “not realistic” to expect radical changes to the E.U.

Standing alongside Macron on Monday evening, however, Merkel struck a very different, and far more conciliatory, tone. “We have agreed that we want to develop a road map—a road map for the E.U.’s medium-term perspective, projects that cannot be created overnight,” Merkel said. “We can give the whole situation a new dynamic. I am aware of the responsibility at this critical moment that we make the right decisions.”

The Chancellor didn’t stop there. In discussions with the British before last year’s Brexit vote, the German government repeatedly ruled out any changes that would require alterations to the treaties which underpin the E.U. But on Monday, Merkel said, “From a German point of view, it is possible to change treaties if it makes sense in order to strengthen the eurozone.” She also said she would argue for such changes if they were necessary.

A cynical reading of Merkel’s remarks is that she was merely offering up some conciliatory words to reward Macron for defeating Marine Le Pen, whose party has been hostile to the E.U., but that if it ever comes down to negotiations about specific French proposals the Germans will be as inflexible as ever. A more optimistic take is that Merkel and at least some of her colleagues—although not Schäuble—have finally realized that endless austerity is a recipe for political extremism and the eventual breakup of the E.U. In this view, Merkel, once she secures reëlection as Chancellor in September’s election, might engage with Macron and other European leaders on a meaningful overhaul of the union, and, in particular, the fiscal and monetary straitjacket it forces all of its members to strap into.

It is too early to say which interpretation is correct. However, recent history would suggest that some skepticism is called for. In 2012, during the last French Presidential campaign, Macron’s predecessor, François Hollande, said he would urge other European leaders, Merkel included, to agree on a new “growth pact” for the European economy. Once Hollande got elected, the idea went nowhere. The hegemony of German ordoliberalism, which finds its human embodiment in Schäuble, was never seriously challenged.

Macron isn’t Hollande, of course. His argument is that if France demonstrates it can push through real reforms to its economy, the German government will be more flexible on issues like stimulus spending and budget deficits. But inside Germany, and particularly in the finance ministry, there is still a good deal of skepticism about Macron, and his ability to deliver meaningful changes. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” one German official told Reuters a couple of weeks ago.

What cannot be questioned is Macron’s ambition, or the scale of the task facing him. Although he campaigned as a centrist, there was a distinct whiff of revanchism in his political platform—a belief that France needs to retake its rightful place as a powerful and respected country on the world stage. It was no accident that he ditched the Presidential limousine for his ceremonial parade up the Champs-Élysées on Sunday, and, instead, stood bolt upright in an open-topped military jeep—à la Charles de Gaulle. “The world and Europe need France now more than ever,” he said in his Inaugural Address. “They need a strong France that is confident in its destiny. They need a France which speaks out loudly for freedom and solidarity.”

The symbolism was all about projecting optimism and strength. Both politically and economically, though, Macron knows he is hostage to others, and that explains his actions on Monday. Although polls indicated Macron’s new party, En Marche, will do well in next month’s parliamentary elections, it is unlikely to win an outright majority. Historically, the center-right Republicans have supported the sorts of economic reforms that Macron is contemplating, such as making it easier for firms to lay off workers, changing the retirement system, and trimming other government programs. Philippe, Macron’s choice as Prime Minister, will press his fellow-Republicans to back the new President in the national interest.

Eliciting Merkel’s coöperation is just as important for Macron. The recent history of France is the history of reform efforts failing, particularly efforts to reform the labor market. To have any chance of succeeding where his predecessors failed, Macron will have to promise the electorate more rapid economic growth and higher levels of job creation. But as long as Berlin enforces an austerity regime throughout the E.U., this pledge won’t be credible. Monday’s press conference in Berlin was an encouraging start for Macron and for the post-Brexit, post-Le Pen E.U. But many big battles lie ahead.