How France is fundamentally changing the EU under Macron

Brussels, Paris The joke is a bit old now, but its punch line has lost none of its relevance. It is about an alleged announcement by the EU Commission: It declares English to be the only official language of the European Union, albeit in a slightly “optimized” form.

First, the “C” should be replaced by “K”, then the sentence position should be changed. A few other adjustments are made – until English becomes German in the end. Eurocratic humor that was ahead of its time. “All of a sudden, German is spoken in Europe”, triumphed the then Union parliamentary group leader Volker Kauder at the height of the euro crisis.

By then, at the latest, the other Europeans had stopped laughing. Deep-seated fears of German dominance came up again. The Federal Republic is the economic powerhouse of the continent. But there was another country that had a decisive influence on Europe in recent years: France.