Charles de Gaulle’s plan to invigorate the French economy while establishing the country as a great power on the global stage was described at the time as “the politics of grandeur”. De Gaulle argued that France needed a strong president who could rise above day-to-day politics, forge a new role for his country in the world and act as the protector of its constitution. It was a lofty vision of the presidency that has been dormant in recent years, but with the election of Emmanuel Macron, it is back. Some will look across the Channel at the Macron phenomenon with envy, but its practical effect on Brexit may be problematic.
There is no doubting Mr Macron’s political skill. In a year he founded a political movement from scratch and won a thunderous majority. Nevertheless, his taste for pageantry could earn him a reputation for hubris. Much to MPs’ annoyance, he revived the tradition of having them sit through a presidential address in the Palace of Versailles. His staff have been working hard on his image, releasing a portrait of Mr Macron surrounded by symbols of French history and culture, de Gaulle’s memoirs among them. Mr Macron is clearly a believer in the general’s maxim that there can be “no prestige without mystery”. He cancelled a media appearance on Bastille Day because his thoughts were “too complex for journalists”. Great leaders can communicate even complex thoughts, even to reporters.
In many ways, however, Mr Macron’s reimagining of the presidency has been effective. France now tops the “soft power 30” index, which measures nations’ ability to influence others without money or military force. Britain and America have been demoted. The president showed ingenuity in his handling of Donald Trump’s recent visit. Mr Macron had invited Mr Trump to the Bastille Day celebrations, obviating the threat of street protests. The French were hardly going to demonstrate against the revolution. The splendour of the occasion emphasised France’s status while offering Mr Trump glamorous photo opportunities. In typically grandiloquent fashion, Mr Macron boasted of a friendship “which transcends time”.
If the president is trying to buttress his office so that his programme can better withstand the inevitable onslaught from trade unions, it is worthwhile. It is essential that he make good on his promises to slim down the French state and scrap much of the country’s onerous labour code if he is to break France’s cycle of anaemic growth and high unemployment.
Yet France’s newfound confidence could spell trouble for the City of London. Mr Macron speaks openly of the opportunities Brexit presents. On a campaign visit to London, he said that he wanted Britain’s “banks, talents, researchers, academics and so on”. Édouard Philippe, France’s centre-right prime minister, has promised new English-speaking schools for bankers inclined to relocate, and insists that they will benefit from tax breaks and labour market deregulation.
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In a recently leaked memo Jeremy Browne, the City of London’s envoy to the EU, wrote that France’s objective in Brexit negotiations was to weaken Britain and degrade the City. As one diplomat said: “France screwed us on the way in [to the Common Market] and they’ll screw us on the way out.” That is all the more reason for the government to negotiate a Brexit deal that gives firms in the City good grounds to stay.