“From one border of the EU to the other, the European ideal is being challenged. Now is the time to reopen the economic and political debate, and to fix the Eurozone as part of a greater deal for a Union in which all member states find their place”, wrote Emmanuel Macron in a common OpEd with S. Gabriel (June 2015). What reforms does Europe need? Can we really strengthen the Eurozone and the EU at the same time? Is it realistic to promote further integration when member states seem to diverge so much?

Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) is the French Minister for the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs. He studied philosophy and was Paul Ricœur’s assistant for two years before attending the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) from where he graduated in 2004. He then joined the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF) and, in 2007, became expert adviser to the head of department. In this capacity, he served as rapporteur for the Commission pour la libération de la croissance française (French Commission on Economic Growth), chaired by Jacques Attali. He then went to work in the banking industry. In 2011, he was involved in François Hollande’s campaign for the socialist party’s presidential primary and, subsequently, in the presidential campaign itself. During the latter campaign, he was tasked with coordinating a group of experts and drawing up the candidate’s economic manifesto. In May 2012, he took up the position of Deputy Secretary General of the President’s Private Office with particular responsibility for monitoring strategy and economic affairs, and for overseeing fiscal, financial, tax and sector-based issues. In August 2014, Emmanuel Macron was appointed Minister for the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in the government headed up by Manuel Valls.

Maurice Fraser is  Head of the European Institute and Professor of Practice in European Politics. 

The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) was established in 1991 as a dedicated centre for the interdisciplinary study of processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSEFrance 

Transcript

A transcript of Emmanuel Macron's speech is available to download. Download The Way Forward for Europe: a union of solidarity and differentiation? (pdf).

Podcast

A podcast of this event is available to download from The Way Forward for Europe: a union of solidarity and differentiation?

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.