BRUSSELS (Reuters) – France and Germany put aside bilateral tensions on Tuesday to call for an overhaul of the EU, which has been buffeted over the past decade by a euro zone debt crisis, an influx of migrants and refugees, rising eurosceptic populism and Brexit.
Some European Union leaders fear that regional and political rifts could tear apart a project they credit with keeping peace and prosperity on the continent, including in eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
Paris and Berlin, long seen as the axis of the continent’s post-World War Two unification process, said a “Conference on the Future of Europe” was necessary to make the EU “more united and sovereign” across a range of challenges.
These include Europe’s role in the world and its security, they said in a document that comes amid growing concern that Europe is ill-equipped to deal with new security and economic challenges, especially from a rising China.
Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron described the NATO transatlantic military alliance as “brain dead”, urging Europe to bolster its capacity to act because it cannot rely eternally on an unpredictable United States.
The two-page Franco-German paper said other areas where Europe needed to be more united included its near neighbours, digitalisation, climate change, migration, the fight against inequality, the “social market economy” and the rule of law.
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