Emmanuel Macron: “It is time for the EU to launch a common debt capacity, through Eurobonds” – Macron argues for joint loans, which would finance strategic investments and allow the EU to “tackle dollar hegemony”
https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2026/02/10/emmanuel-macron-c-est-le-moment-pour-l-union-europeenne-de-lancer-une-capacite-commune-d-endettement-via-des-eurobonds_6666101_3234.html
Posted by goldstarflag
25 Comments
So he wants other EU countries to pay off french debt?
who needs to balance budgets when you can get det indefinitely.
The issue is, that France is in debt spiral.
I would be for this for specific “extra spending”. Not to use it for regular spending.
Yianis Varoufakis joins the call..
and finally when it’s good for France there are no PIGS any more. Interesting change of policy. Maybe no, maybe austerity also for France
Good initiative, but when PIGS were struggling in debt it was rejected.
As a French please no. It’s been 50 years since our last balanced budget. If you don’t let us crumble they will never learn, they will crush your economy the same way they killed french economy.
Joint loans? Ehh easy to suggest when you have one of the largest national debts..
**You campaign for a “powerful Europe”. Do you feel like you are being heard?**
For nine years, I have been advocating for a more sovereign Europe. I think that the conceptual change has taken place, and that we have taken many measures that were unthinkable a few years ago. Thus, we have set up a defense Europe, with common funding and common projects. We won this ideological fight. But, we are not at the right pace and we are not at the right scale.
**That’s to say?**
Today, our Europe faces an immense challenge, in a world in disorder. Climate change is happening faster. The United States, which we thought assured us security forever, casts doubt. Russia, which was supposed to provide low-cost energy forever, has been over for three years. And China, which was an export market for many, has become an increasingly fierce competitor.
In September 2024, the former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi warned, in its report on competitiveness, on the risk of agony of the EU if it did nothing.
**Where are we?**
Since then, the situation has worsened profoundly. Today, China has $1 trillion [840 billion euros] trade surpluses with the rest of the world, a third with the United States, a third with Europe. At the same time, Washington imposed customs duties on us. In fact, we have a double crisis: the Chinese tsunami on the commercial level and the microsecond instability on the American side.
Are we ready to become a power? This question is asked of us on the economic, financial level, on the defense and security level, on the democratic level. It must be time to wake up. In other times, to cite the great authors, we would have said the moment of leaving the state of minority.
Today, we Europeans are all alone. For me, this is the ultimate accomplishment of the European adventure of the last seventy years. We had come together to no longer wage war, we had come together to make a deal, but we had always forbidden ourselves from thinking about power together.
**What do you recommend?**
Simplification –we started, on texts such as the duty of vigilance – and the deepening of the internal market. We must continue, with the 28the diet [which aims to create a European code of business law], the Capital Markets Union, the integration of our electricity networks… The native market of our companies cannot be twenty-seven different markets, but it must be natively 450 million inhabitants.
The second pillar is diversification, the conclusion of new commercial partnerships, as we have just done with India. This strategy offers us a growth driver and also allows us to reduce our dependencies, it is good.
**However, France opposed the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. Isn’t that paradoxical?**
The [deal with the] Mercosur is a bad deal. It’s an old agreement, poorly negotiated. Regardless, Mercosur will have neither the dramatic impact on our agriculture that some fear, nor the positive impact on our growth that others imagine.
**Should we have more protectionism?**
We must protect our industry. The Chinese do it, the Americans do it too. Europe is today the most open market in the world. Faced with this, it is not a question of being protectionist, but of being coherent, that is to say of not imposing rules on our producers that we do not impose on non-European importers.
We have started to protect certain sectors, by imposing taxes on over-subsidized Chinese electric vehicles or by introducing safeguard clauses on steel. The car plan, presented a few weeks ago by the Commission, also displays a European preference.
We will not give European preference to cell phones, we no longer produce them in Europe. We must concentrate on certain strategic sectors, such as cleantech, chemicals, steel, automobiles or defense, otherwise the Europeans will be swept away. It’s defensive, but it’s essential, because we are faced with unfair competitors, who no longer respect the rules of the World Trade Organization.
**In 2024, Mario Draghi already spoke of the need for a European preference…**
Yes, just as he insisted on the need to innovate and invest in this objective. But it was a little forgotten along the way. We mainly focused on simplification and diversification, which are more consensual.
**What exactly is investment for?**
Today, we have three battles to fight, in security and defense, in ecological transition technologies, and in artificial intelligence and quantum. In all these areas, we invest much less than China and the United States. If the EU does nothing within three to five years, it will be swept away from these sectors. And this investment, if we want it to preserve the internal market, not to fragment it a little more, we must not send it back to the nations. It must be a joint investment.
**How much are we talking about?**
Mario Draghi estimated the need for public and private investment in green and digital technologies at 800 billion euros per year. If we add defense and security, we arrive at some 1,200 billion euros per year.
**How to finance these investments?**
We must first remobilize our savings. In Europe, we have the largest stock of savings in the world, 30,000 billion euros. But it finances our debt and, for the rest, goes abroad. Every year, 300 billion euros finance American companies.
At the same time, once the European budget is constrained, it is time to launch a common debt capacity for these future expenditures, Eurobonds for the future. We need major European programs to finance the best projects.
Common debt only if there is common binding fiscal oversight re spending, taxation etc.
I.e. we need the EU to become a proper Federation.
The idea that otherwise every nation essentially retains full budget authority while spending the money of other countries taxpayers is frankly offensive.
He is right, but it can only happen after France gets it’s finances in order. You can’t have the Dutch and Germans pay for French pensioners, nuclear decommissioning and all the other massive bills hanging over their economy like the sword of Damocles.
To an extent the seal has been broken on that with SAFE, and for specific projects it’s probably something that can reasonably be repeated and would be politically acceptable. As a way for national governments to raise money generally though that seems very unlikely.
Yeah so that France can borrow even more and have the rest of Europe split the bill. Lmfao.
I remember when the left parties in Portugal were considered “radical” because of this idea in 2011 when our debt was spiraling.
We’re all waiting for you guys to do something about it
Eurobonds can only be the last and final step after the entire EU has adopted common rules for working life, pensions, retirement age and fiscal policy.
No one will agree to Eurobonds as long as their neighbouring regions have to pay less taxes, are allowed to retire five years earlier and then also receive higher pension payments. How should that be acceptable?
All cars in France are more likely to go up in flames than the population is to accept change.
I squarely agree that the EU is at a key crossroads at this point. With Trump driving confidence in the USA to the ground, Europe needs to federalise in order to become a leader.
US has hegemony in the bond market because it serves a massive economy. The EU could have a similar place if bonds covered the EU-wide economy.
But for that to take place, there are a number of laws that need to be federal, so that businesses can easily scale within the EU.
i’d buy eurobonds.
No common debt without a common budget.
Trump: “Who knew other countries could possibly respond when you attack and threaten them every day for years?” /s
Fo shur!
Let me guess, Germany is against it
France slowly rediscovering Charles de Gaulles legacy is amazing for the EU!
When France was not in debt: “No, we don’t want to get penalized for the south countries deficits”
France now: “Eurobonds will make Europe great again”
Tell me the Eurozone is running out of borrowing capacity and heading towards bankruptcy, without telling me.