Merkel Soft Pedals Macron Drive for Radical Remake of Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Angela Merkel offered measured encouragement to those demanding wide-ranging reforms of the European Union ahead of her first summit since securing a fourth term as German chancellor last Sunday.

French President Emmanuel Macron set out a road map this week for deepening EU ties on security, the economy, the environment and foreign policy over an hour and 40 minutes on Tuesday, echoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s call for more integration in his state-of-the-union speech earlier this month. Those speeches were greeted with skepticism by some other EU leaders, with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen describing the French leader’s speech as “verbose.”

“The speeches by Juncker and Macron contained important building blocks,” Merkel said at a briefing ahead of a pre-summit dinner Thursday in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn. “But we still have to talk about the details.”

Merkel then sat down with Macron for 30 minutes before joining a dinner of 27 European leaders. Theresa May will attend the meeting looking to add momentum to the negotiations over Brexit after signaling last week she’s ready to compromise on the bill for leaving the EU. Spain’s Mariano Rajoy is skipping the summit to focus on the crisis in Catalonia, where the regional government is trying to set up polling stations for an illegal referendum on independence on Sunday.

A French official said Macron had discussed his Tuesday speech with Merkel several times before he delivered it. Still, the chancellor warned him she wouldn’t be in a position to work with him on his plans until at least December, the official said, adding that several other countries have already signaled talks on embracing Macron’s proposals for the euro area may be difficult.

In today’s meeting, Merkel said she could already see common ground with Macron on defense and immigration. She’s trying to piece together a coalition with the Free Democrats and the Greens after her previous partners, the Social Democrats, said they wanted to return to opposition after posting their worst vote result since 1949. If she can seal such an agreement it would be the first time those parties have governed Germany together.

Leaders will spend Friday at a summit devoted to digital issues, which the Estonian government -- currently the holder of the EU’s six-month rotating presidency -- considers the country’s biggest selling point. It’s also an area where EU decision makers fear Europe is at risk of falling behind, especially as it may be drowned out by more pressing existential concerns.

--With assistance from Ian Wishart and Andra Timu

To contact the reporters on this story: Arne Delfs in Tallinn at adelfs@bloomberg.net, Ott Ummelas in Tallinn at oummelas@bloomberg.net, Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Michael Winfrey