Quote: Calling Europe slow, weak and ineffective, French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said the EU should embrace a joint budget, shared military force and harmonized taxes to stay globally relevant.

With Brexit looming, Macron warned the rest of Europe against the dangers of anti-immigrant nationalism and fragmentation, saying it goes against the principles of a shared Europe born from the tragedy of world wars.

"We thought the past would not come back ... we thought we had learned the lessons," Macron told a crowd of European students at the Sorbonne university Tuesday.

After a far-right party entered the German parliament for the first time in 60 years, Macron said this isolationist attitude has resurfaced "because of blindness ... because we forgot to defend Europe."

"The Europe that we know is too slow, too weak, too ineffective," he said.

To change that, he proposed a joint budget for European countries sharing the euro currency that would allow investment in European projects and help stabilize the eurozone in case of economic crisis. This budget would at some point need to come from national budgets of countries sharing the euro currency, for instance using domestic taxes on businesses.

Macron said the only way to make Europe strong in a globalized world is to reshape "a sovereign, united and democratic Europe."

While re-elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel has signaled openness to some of Macron's ideas, one potential ally in her new government is deeply skeptical about a eurozone budget. Macron's office says he wants his Europe strategy to play a role in Germany's coalition-building talks.

To reduce inequalities across the EU, Macron also suggested greater harmonization of EU tax policies — notably on corporate taxes, and taxing internet giants where they make money and not where they are registered.

Macron is also proposing that every EU country guarantee a minimum wage and payroll charges.

Macron said, "I believe deeply in this innovation economy," but insisted that "we must have this debate" about making taxation more fair.

Macron also proposed a shared European military intervention force and defense budget. He suggested the creation of a European intelligence academy to better fight terrorism, and a joint civil protection force.

He wants to open the French military to European soldiers and proposed other EU member states do the same on a voluntary basis.

To deal with Europe's migration flux, Macron wants a European asylum agency and standard EU identity documents.

Macron's policies have met resistance at home, and riot police held back a few dozen protesters outside the Sorbonne.

Macron doesn't want to wait for Britain to leave the EU in 2019 to tie European economies closer together.

He's well-placed to kickstart those efforts: at just 39, he came of age under the EU, and won a strong electoral mandate this year. And he's already held one-on-one meetings with 22 of the union's 27 other leaders to market his EU strategy.

Macron recalled he won the presidential election on a pro-European platform, against anti-European, anti-immigration far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

His biggest challenge may be the German political calendar. The outgoing government there goes into caretaker status in a few weeks and is not going to be taking any major decisions on the future of Europe, and it may take months for Merkel to form a viable coalition.

The pro-business Free Democrats, a key potential partner for Merkel, is against a joint budget because the party says that would result in automatic, uncontrolled money transfers from Germany to struggling eurozone partners.

Answering a question about Germany's potential reluctance to a joint budget, Macron said he is open to discussion and insisted this budget would not be based on an automatic, uncontrolled transfer of money, but rather on common projects that would be democratically approved and financed.

Merkel herself said Monday she wouldn't rule anything out and that she is in touch with Macron about his plans. "What is important to me above all is that we could use more Europe, but that must lead to more competitiveness, more jobs, simply more clout for the European Union," she told reporters in Berlin.

Macron plans to discuss his proposals with all leaders of EU member states that are interested in the integration process by the end of the year.

He then wants "transparent, free" debates involving all citizens to be organized in all EU countries early next year, with the aim of combating euroskepticism by giving a voice to Europeans, instead of imposing decisions.

He said EU leaders should be ready to propose a detailed, agreed roadmap to reform Europe by 2019, when elections for the European parliament are to be held.

(09-26-2017, 10:17 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: At least we know someone will have the balls to rebuke Russia.

(09-27-2017, 01:56 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: The Germans will have a legitimate military.   That's not ended well for the rest of the world when this has happened.

(09-27-2017, 08:00 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: You're concerned about the Fourth Reich, meanwhile you're supportive of the country that's actually using its military to annex parts of Europe...

(09-27-2017, 05:56 AM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: That is some predictions.

Dude still think the nazis are in Germany while the flags are in Charlottesville.

I don't know how you say speck and log in english but you get the idea.

Yeah, I know german far right got some people on the parliament ... In USA, they're in the White House.

It's really funny to read these things on Europe while having really no clue of what is going on.

(09-27-2017, 08:00 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: You're concerned about the Fourth Reich, meanwhile you're supportive of the country that's actually using its military to annex parts of Europe...

(09-27-2017, 08:14 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: You are ok with giving the Germans a legitimate military force?

(09-27-2017, 08:17 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: They don't need our permission. 

(09-27-2017, 08:14 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: You are ok with giving the Germans a legitimate military force?

(09-27-2017, 08:14 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: You are ok with giving the Germans a legitimate military force?

(09-27-2017, 10:47 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Didn't ask about permission.   I asked how you felt about the Germans controlling an EU army.

(09-27-2017, 10:47 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Didn't ask about permission.   I asked how you felt about the Germans controlling an EU army.

(09-27-2017, 11:06 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I'm curious how this would effect a couple country's neutrality. Like Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Finland. You can hardly be neutral if you're paying into a shared budget for a military, and sharing said military.

Also, if you join all the countries together and some are nuclear armed countries and others are not, aren't you breaking nuclear proliferation by arming other countries with nukes since you're sharing militaries?

(09-27-2017, 11:06 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I'm curious how this would effect a couple country's neutrality. Like Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Finland. You can hardly be neutral if you're paying into a shared budget for a military, and sharing said military.

Also, if you join all the countries together and some are nuclear armed countries and others are not, aren't you breaking nuclear proliferation by arming other countries with nukes since you're sharing militaries?

(09-27-2017, 11:39 AM)Bengalzona Wrote: Since Brexit, France is the only EU country with nuclear weapons.

We have often had some of our nukes stationed in Germany, Italy, and Turkey which have been at the disposal of NATO. But they are still our nukes.

Frankly, I think the EU needs a unified armed forces.... solely because Russia is so much against it and has been acting like asshats during the past decade.

(09-27-2017, 12:02 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I just wonder if supporting an EU Army in order to spite Russia is a bit like Australia introducing the myna bird to control locust plagues... only to then find themselves with a massive myna bird problem, which forces native birds out of their nests and spreads diseases.

(09-27-2017, 12:12 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: I would say that the flakier the U.S. acts about NATO, the more the Europeans will want their own defense force. Putin is against both. If NATO goes, EU Army is almost assured. That would actually save the U.S. taxpayers some money in the short-term. But if we stay committed to NATO, the chances of a European Army are slim.

Either way, Putin won't get his way.