And at home, his political vision has given rise to France’s raucous yellow vest uprising over his government’s pro-business policies . Macron won the 2017 presidential election over France’s far-right, anti-immigration party leader Marine Le Pen on a pledge to make Europe stronger to face global competition against the Unites States and China. Four months after his election, Macron outlined his vision for Europe in a sweeping speech at Paris’ Sorbonne university, calling for a joint EU budget, shared military forces and harmonized taxes. France and Germany are the two heavyweights in Europe, and Macron can also count on co-operation from pro-European governments of Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and others. New protests against Macron and his government are planned for the EU election day.

Source: National Post May 19, 2019 07:35 UTC