British Prime Minister Boris Johnson isn’t the only European leader who should be smiling about the new Brexit deal between the U.K. and the EU.
For French President Emmanuel Macron, the end of more than three years of Brexit negotiations is an opportunity make a course correction in his increasingly contentious relations with the rest of Europe.
Simply put, with the rejection of Sylvie Goulard, Macron’s candidate for the Commission, Brussels needs a new French nominee de toute urgence. And, oh voilà, the EU’s outgoing chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier needs a new job.
The rejection of Goulard was no political hit job. It was the culmination of months of frustration over how Macron and his Renew Europe group have attempted to push through the lofty ambitions of his Sorbonne speech — a classic French platter of a more centralized and more expensive Europe.
Macron once said of Johnson that he “enjoys giving flamboyant speeches but has no strategic vision.” He might have been talking about himself. As much as Macron likes to present himself as Europe’s selfless savior, in reality he’s been delivering a Brussels nightmare.
Sylvie Goulard was rejected as European commissioner for internal market | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
His missteps in recent months have had wholly negative effects for the EU, leaving a gaping hole in the new European Commission and complicating Commission President-designate Ursula von der Leyen’s already difficult job.
Putting forth Barnier would be a chance for Macron to turn things around. The former French minister and two-time commissioner has shepherded the EU through the Brexit talks with remarkable constraint, given the confused, and often contradictory, position adopted by a revolving door of British negotiators.
He has also, in a most unexpected way, maintained the unity of the remaining 27 countries in supporting the concerns of Ireland regarding the peace process in Northern Ireland.
He might also, if Westminster obliges by finally getting Brexit done, relish a new challenge away from the crazy brigade of the British Tory Party. Compared with Brexit, dealing with the Alstom-Siemens whinge-fest would feel like a pleasant walk by the Seine.
To be sure, appointing Barnier — a longtime member of the European People’s Party — would require Macron to shed the pride of unfettered leadership and the prejudice of traditional politics. But he should find consolation that he’d have found the right person for the job.
French President Emmanuel Macron still needs to find the right person for the job of European commissioner | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
The first months of a new mandate are critical in setting the tone of the years to follow, and Barnier would be integral in steadying the incoming team. His appointment would solidify the coterie of cross-party expertise in key portfolios and lend a steadying hand to an incoming Commission president unused to the currents of Brussels decision-making.
His positions on four key policy pillars — trade, security/migration, the economy and the environment — also support both Macron’s and von der Leyen’s priorities for Europe.
His appointment would, however, require the acquiescence of the EPP, the Socialists and Renew Europe in the parliament.
Unlikely? Perhaps. Impossible? No.
The EPP would benefit from supporting Barnier as something that’s best for Europe, especially if he were presented as an independent commissioner, devoid of any political allegiances. His elevation could also help the group pivot back toward a more centrist position on the European spectrum.
Frustration with Macron and his grouping is high. Renew Europe is only the Parliament’s third largest group — they would do well to remember that their irrelevance is only contained by their ability to work and compromise with others.
The youngest French president in history has already secured a powerful portfolio for the new French commissioner and a French head of the European Central Bank.
But unless he can swallow his pride now, he’ll struggle to make good on his self-confessed raison d’être: strengthening the European center against the tides of populism.
Eoin Drea is senior research officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.