Can Macron and Merkel Really Save the European Union?

Can Macron and Merkel Really Save the European Union?
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel address the media during a press conference, Berlin, Germany, June 29, 2017 (AP photo by Michael Sohn).

Is the European Union finally out of the woods? Two years after the refugee and migrant crisis drove a continent-wide populist backlash, the existential threat to the union seems to be over. Optimism over signs of economic recovery is spreading, and the political landscape, though permanently altered in some places, seems to be recovering from the seismic upheaval of the past few years. Most importantly, the Franco-German partnership, historically the political motor of the EU’s development, seems to have regained its relevance, with both countries on solid footing domestically and in tandem.

But many of the underlying challenges facing the bloc remain stubbornly unresolved. How much of the current optimism is really justified?

In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s victory over the National Front’s Marine Le Pen in May, coming on the heels of Dutch voters’ rejection of Geert Wilder’s anti-EU Freedom Party, signaled that the worst of the populist wave had broken. The National Front’s subsequent descent into internal division and discord, despite its best showing in a presidential election to date, further demonstrated the difficulty of mounting a credible anti-EU platform outside the United Kingdom.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review