Today, Emmanuel Macron made a bold and passionate case against nationalism and for Europe – a Europe that, with our help, he wants to reform, strengthen and unite. We must seize this opportunity and launch Franco-German initiatives, so that, together, we can make Europe more democratic, get EU citizens involved and position ourselves even better to meet future challenges.

Emmanuel Macron has identified the key issues for which Europe needs to find more convincing, common answers – because national solutions have for some time now simply not been sufficient: migration policy, management of our external borders, foreign and security policy, growth and employment, strengthening the eurozone and joint climate policy.

I, too, firmly believe that, in a turbulent and disorderly world, we must act in concert if we want to continue to make our voice heard and defend our values and principles. Only with joint solutions can we rekindle enthusiasm among the people of Europe for the EU. Simple awareness that we need European solutions will not be enough. We also need joint European commitment, so that we can resolve these issues together. Today, Emmanuel Macron demonstrated that he has the commitment it will take to get this done. He can count on our support.