Did Macron describe from the ODS? It also requires less regulation. But he wants to go about it completely differently

Emmanuel Macron presented his vision of Europe and delighted Czech politicians. His dictionary seems to have fallen out of the secretariats of the various parties in Prague. He spoke about migration, the Green Deal and the need to return prosperity to Europe. However, his recipe will not please our political party so much.

The sentence “Europe will die if it does not protect its borders and return to economic growth” could find its way into quizzes asking who wrote it. If the reader were to guess one of the representatives of the current Czech government, he would not be wrong.

In various variations and less dramatic figures, it comes from the mouths of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the leader of Together for the European elections Alexander Vondra, MEP and People’s Party number one Tomáš Zdechovský and many others.

But it was spoken by Emmanuel Macron. It was part of his two-hour speech on the future of Europe at the Sorbonne in Paris. The French president has already given a speech on Europe at this university once, seven years ago. This was his return to the same ground and with the leitmotif, how to move forward with Europe.

Macron described in detail how the European gears have changed over the past years and what the continent will face if it does not change itself. Whether it was the area of defense, protection of external borders or the economy, he said that Europe cannot behave the same way when the world around it behaves differently.

“You can’t have the strictest rules for state aid when others are showering their businesses with money. (…) You can’t have the strictest environmental laws in the world and let goods come to us from countries that don’t have any. The result would be poverty,” he said.

According to him, the EU states should use the years after the June European elections to change. Macron talked about deregulation – he specifically mentioned “several waves” to simplify the operating conditions of the internal market. And he talked about the need to invest new money in Europe’s competitiveness. Lots of new money.

It would be hard to find a Czech politician who would not agree with the words of the French leader. But Emmanuel Macron suggests that it should be done through “more Europe”.

In other words, Macron appealed for further integration – in energy, insurance, financial services. He also called for a joint rearmament of Europe, for example by issuing special defense bonds.

Everywhere here, the Czech government sometimes sounds cautious, sometimes resolute, but almost always “no”. When EU leaders at the summit last week debated the unification of bankruptcy rules across the twenty-seven, which Macron also mentioned in his speech, the Czech Republic was among the protesting states.

The ODS-led government is also wary of joint bonds to finance the European arms industry. Sometimes he worries that it will be a money drain for competition – in this case French. But the reflexive aversion of Fiala’s party towards everything union and the fear of losing their own power often works; this was the case with the integration of financial services, which would have weakened the CNB if it had occurred.

In short, the Czech governments, not only the current one, see “less Europe” as a long-term solution. So he stands at the opposite end of Emmanuel Macron. He, perhaps surprisingly for many, does not say that he knows the solution to everything. But it comes with an invitation to a joint debate. This is also the difference between the French and the Czech approach.