Europe | At the Elysée Palace

Emmanuel Macron on how to rescue Europe

The French president on grave risks to the continent, and what to do about them

The French president, Emmanuel Macron during an interview with The Economist
Photograph: Ed Alcock/MYOP
|PARIS

SEVEN years ago, when Emmanuel Macron was first elected president of France, it was with a campaign infused with optimism about Europe. The leader who sat down with The Economist on April 29th is an altogether graver figure. He has lost none of his combative energy. But his analysis of the threats encircling Europe is resolutely bleak. At stake is the survival of Europe as a safe place, a guarantor of prosperity and the liberal democratic order. “A civilisation can die,” Mr Macron warns, and the end can be “brutal”. “Things can happen much more quickly than we think.”

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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “How to rescue Europe”

Europe May 4th 2024

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