Financial Times: France Pushes for Top Posts in Eurozone Reshuffle

Under Emmanuel Macron’s new government, France is aggressively seeking to influence eurozone policy by gunning for two top positions in the Eurogroup as well as pushing to create another one. The Eurogroup refers to informal gatherings for finance ministers of the 19 eurozone countries who attempt to ensure close coordination and integration of economic policies. The pro-EU Macron is “push[ing] to reassert France’s economic policymaking role after years of subservience to Germany,” write Arthur Beesley and Jim Brunsden for the Financial Times. France and many other southern European nations are inclined toward a policy that involves “greater sharing of risks” instead of “the need for fiscal discipline” that Germany espouses. France’s push is already gathering dissent, however, as some contend that smaller countries would be more neutral during sensitive negotiations. Accordingly, despite Macron’s calls for embracing the EU, diverging interests in fiscal and monetary policy suggest that Berlin’s “gulf with Paris is still very wide.” – YaleGlobal