Macron – when pressed mainly by British reporters – has said he will not countenance a deal that allows the UK to act as Europe’s offshore tax haven with access to the single market. Like his one-time patron, François Hollande, he is determined no other EU country should believe Brexit is worth emulating. A former banker, he will also be tempted to lure many of his UK-based supporters back to France by making Paris an effective rival to the City of London.
But Macron’s ability to press this case depends largely on the relationship he manages to strike with Berlin. He visited Germany twice during the campaign and in a 70-minute lecture delivered in English at Humboldt University in Berlin in January, he promised to end the mistrust and deadlock that had disfigured the Franco-German axis. [...]
His ideas for reform of the euro, first set out with the German SPD politician Sigmar Gabriel, challenge Berlin’s adherence to trade surpluses, which he has described as unsustainable. Many of his proposals remain vague but Macron has been honest enough to acknowledge Berlin will only listen to Paris if France first establishes its credibility through economic reforms.
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