While France will take for six months, on January 1, the head of the Council of the European Union, Emmanuel Macron wants to put the migration issue at the heart of this presidency.

The Head of State reaffirmed Tuesday, during a "Protestant dinner", that he wanted to manage the problem of migrants at European level and obtain a new Europe-Africa treaty to prevent migration.

“One of my objectives under the French presidency (of the EU) is to try to rebuild a treaty of peace and friendship with Africa, where one of the data will be how the Europeans give the capacity to the African youth to have opportunities in his continent, ”he pleaded.

"We have to think of a much better organized migration policy with the States of origin, in particular with Africa", recommended Emmanuel Macron, while calling for better protection against illegal migration, their systematic return to their country of origin. and a reform of the Schengen area.

For Macron, "we must improve integration"

Faced with “a much stronger migratory pressure than in recent years, in societies in crisis of integration, with also people who come from countries more difficult to integrate […] it is necessary to improve integration, including for those who have been there for a long time, but at the same time trying to prevent new arrivals because they are unsustainable for our societies, for the European continent, because a large majority of those who arrive asking for asylum are not eligible for asylum ", He estimated.

"Each individual case, you will be able to convince me as a man to keep them, but as president I cannot tell you that this situation is viable, because it makes sense of what it is. 'asylum,' explained Emmanuel Macron, calling for a clear distinction between asylum and all other migrations.

The Head of State responded to the President of the Protestant Federation of France, François Clavairoly, who reminded him of "the requirement of the right to asylum" and regretted that "the reception is denied by hate speech".

The need for a "great collective narrative"

The president also wished for the return of a “great collective story”.

"We are collectively unhappy to no longer have a great story, because our compatriots are confronted with the smallness of the little stories".

"To be president, it is to try every day to explain to the French the reasons which they have to live together", he concluded, at the end of a charity dinner organized by a network of Protestant entrepreneurs.

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  • EU

  • Schengen area

  • Africa

  • Asylum

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Migrants

  • Society