Paris no longer sees EU enlargement as an obstacle, but as a catalyst for its “European sovereignty” agenda. It’s an uncertain bet, but there are two good arguments for why an EU that moves further east may pave the way for a “Europe puissance.”

The EU’s history is closely intertwined with the fate of its automobile industry. As China’s electric vehicles take the continent by storm, Paris has put forward a balanced proposition for how to save European producers. But to really make it work, Berlin and others have to follow.

Six years after his famous Sorbonne speech, what should be Emmanuel Macron’s next big EU initiative? A case can be made for Macron continuing to push forward his “European sovereignty” paradigm. But would that entail that he is now getting serious on EU institutional reform?

The French president’s current troubles can be traced back to 2005, when the French rejected a Constitution for Europe only for Paris to then ratify the Lisbon Treaty two years later. A return to parliamentarism is the only solution.