French President calls for EU revival
(VOVWORLD) - Europe has "lost its way" and requires a "new generation of leaders" to revive the bloc, warned French President Emmanuel Macron in an address to both houses of Parliament at the Palace of Versailles.
 French President Emmanuel Macron at a press conference in Mali on July 2, 2017. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
He said the development of Europe has been weakened by a spread of bureaucracy and by the growing skepticism that comes from it. The EU has managed crises in the last 10 years but has lost its way, he said, adding that Britain's vote last year to leave the European Union was a "symptom of a failure that the EU must have the courage to face head-on."
German chancellor Angela Merkel has closed ranks with Macron in a bid to revive the traditional Franco-German "motor" of the EU following Britain's Brexit decision. Macron said France and Germany will launch "democratic conventions" across Europe by the end of 2017.