London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

EU faces battle between two ideas of sovereignty

EU faces battle between two ideas of sovereignty

Europe Letter: Ambition of French presidency may collide with Hungarian and Polish agendas

The European Union is about to face a battle of wills. In January, France will assume the six-month rotating presidency of the council of the European Union. Ambitious for changes, never lacking a problem he thinks the EU couldn’t solve, and facing an impending election, President Emmanuel Macron will be seeking results to prove to his sceptical public that the bloc is an effective actor in addressing matters of French concern.

Unstoppable force, meet immovable object. Macron assumes the role with Hungary and Poland locked in a dispute with the EU over rule of law and ready to use their vetos to stop the EU from agreeing on anything.

Justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro has warned Poland could wield “a veto on all matters that require unanimity in the EU” if the European Commission does not release funds it is holding back due to concerns over political interference with the courts.

Hungary, which already uses its veto liberally in foreign affairs resolutions, has been threatening to deploy it to block a the transposition of the OECD tax deal to set a 15 per cent minimum corporation tax. The reform is dear to the heart of Paris, while Budapest was one of the last holdouts against it. Hungary has an even lower corporation tax rate than Ireland, at 9 per cent.

Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki have courted Macron’s domestic opposition. They both recently hosted the far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Orban went one step further by inviting to Budapest the firebrand TV pundit Eric Zemmour.

Holding the presidency means it will be French diplomats who broker discussions between member states and negotiations to finalise laws with the parliament and commission. When national leaders and ministers gather in Brussels, it will be the French representative who chair the meeting.

Each member state brings its own flavour and priorities to the term. This one will be bifurcated by the first round of the French elections in April, giving Macron just three months to prove his Eurosceptic domestic opponents wrong.

High on the priority list: migration, and how to toughen control of the EU’s external borders. These will be an undercurrent at a summit with the African Union in February. Exerting control in a region that is a point of origin and transit for people who migrate to Europe was part of the rationale for a French and EU military presence in the Sahel region, the site of a sprawling conflict that has been dubbed “Europe’s forever war”.

France is geopolitically ambitious, and has long argued for greater EU strength in defending its interests. Its presidency will culminate in a March defence summit aimed to strike a new deal to allow the bloc to strategically address its weaknesses and build capacity to react decisively if the need arises. Some proposals, such as a 5,000-strong rapid reaction force and greater investment in defence, will veer close to the kind of ideas that have been most effective in triggering concerns in the Irish electorate about EU integration in the past.

Something else to watch for is a tougher line towards Britain. France is sensitive to being undercut if the UK decides to slash regulations and has never had much tolerance for demands from British officials for looser checks on goods going into Northern Ireland and an assumption of good faith.

Many in Paris believe that the commission has been wrong to react to British hard bargaining with concessions and have pushed for the preparation of infringement proceedings that could lead to punitive tariffs on trade.

Industrial policy


It’s an idea that makes the Irish Government uneasy due to the economic and political fallout. So can French ideas about industrial policy.

France champions the idea of Europe having its own supply chains for strategically crucial items, whether medicines or microchips. As a small country that benefits from open international markets, Ireland does not believe supply chains can be anything but global and opposes protective trade policies that risk triggering reciprocal actions and ultimately hampering trade for all.

It all falls under Macron’s idea of “European sovereignty”: the idea of European countries amplifying their strength by acting collectively and through more ready willingness to wield that power. It’s in contrast to the national sovereignty championed by the Polish and Hungarian governments and Macron’s domestic opponents, which is often defined in opposition to the EU.

Earlier this year he described it as follows: “We must move from a Europe of cooperation within our borders to a Europe that is powerful in the world, fully sovereign, free in its choices and master of its destiny.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×