The current EU debate seems to centre mostly on the travails of Brexit and the risks being faced by the union as a result of the inconclusive Italian elections. But the really interesting developments for the future of the EU are happening in France.
President Emmanuel Macron, who was elected just a year ago, is delivering on most of the promises that made him so popular with the electorate. In a country still dominated by trade union power, he is trying to implement labour market reforms that he had started when still an economy minister under his predecessor François Holland.
He has already achieved a lot with reforms on corporate taxation, universities, vocational training and the venerated baccalaureate. He cut wealth tax and housing benefits despite strong opposition. He has now set his sights on tackling the railway workers and their special privileges.
The EU needs to have the courage to promote reforms firstly within its own institutions to restore citizens’ confidence in its political significance
This is certainly the toughest nut he has to crack in his quest to restructure the French economy and make himself the de facto strongest leader of the EU. He has to face the might of the CGT, the trade union with traditional links to the French Communist Party. With the political left like in many other countries in the EU, including Germany and Italy, becoming far less significant to most ordinary people, Macron wants these reforms to succeed so that he can claim that he knows what reforms the rest of the EU needs to win back the support of most of its citizens.
Macron has one unshakeable conviction. He knows that if the EU does not reform itself now, its institutions might not survive another economic recession or political crisis.
In a speech at Sorbonne University, he said that in the absence of change, the EU will find itself weaker, “exposed to the squalls of globalisation and vulnerable to the siren lure of nativism and populism”.
But the most extraordinary reform that Macron is about to implement is the reduction in the number of MPs by almost a third to restore voters’ confidence in a largely discredited political system. The French National Assembly today has 577 seats. Such a reform would need the support of the French senate that is still controlled by Opposition parties.
After weeks of negotiations between the government and the head of the Opposition-led senate, Macron seems to be nearer to enacting draft legislation that will promote deep renovation of political and parliamentary life.
Besides reducing the number of MPs by a third, the French President is also promising to introduce partial proportional representation in the legislative elections scheduled for 2022. If this reform goes through, 15 per cent of MPs in the lower House will be elected via proportional representation. This will make the French parliamentary system more representative of minority parties. Many fear that this change will strengthen the far-right movement led by Marine Le Pen who, despite her 13 per cent vote in the last parliamentary elections, only has eight seats in the French National Assembly.
As is to be expected, conservative French MPs are critical of these reforms. They fear for their survival as many would lose their jobs if these reforms goes through. Turkeys do not vote for Christmas.
If only Macron’s attempts to reform are emulated in other member states, the EU’s prospects for remaining meaningful to most ordinary people will be much brighter. Many argue that the EU institutions, not least the European Parliament, are symbols of extravagance that jar with the realities that most European families are constantly facing.
With the financial black hole that will emerge in the EU budget after Brexit, the EU needs to have the courage to promote reforms firstly within its own institutions to restore citizens’ confidence in its political significance. Unemployment remains stubbornly high in most member states and millions of young people have lost faith in their future.
Parties of the political right and left have been discredited as they no longer offer solutions to people’s real needs. The bureaucrats in Brussels try to find ways of fighting populism but seem impotent in promoting the well-being of most people who have not been prepared for the aftermath of globalisation.
Rather then introduce more taxes to fill the budget black hole, the EU should be thinking of reducing its expenditure by, for instance, reducing the number of parliamentarians as Macron is attempting to do in France. They should also make tax evasion a more prominent item on their agenda to ensure a fairer EU for all its citizens.
johncassarwhite@yahoo.com