‘He will weaken Europe’ Emmanuel Macron accused of putting France before EU

Emmanuel Macron wants an overhaul of the bloc’s “posted workers” which would make it more difficult for companies to hire cheap workers in one EU country and post them to a richer country where they do not have to obey all local employment rules. 

But his calls for reform both in the EU and in France have come under fire with his popularity plummeting. 

A majority of French voters do not trust Mr Macron to lead the country in the right direction, with his popularity falling further in the month to mid-August, a Harris Interactive poll showed on Tuesday.

The continued slide in support for Mr Macron’s reform agenda comes as the 39-year-old leader prepares to publish flagship labour market reforms this week.

The measures are seen as a bellwether for Macron’s broader reform agenda and the decline in post-election support has raised questions over how far and how quickly he will carry it out.

In a veiled swipe, German journalist Thomas Schmid said Mr Macron “would be prepared to further weaken the already weakened European solidarity” in order to protect French workers. 

Writing in the Welt blog Mr Schmid said countries in Eastern Europe are simply “catching up” and being able to benefit from cheap labour is fair. 

Mr Schmid said: “Macron’s proposal can not be welcomed by the Eastern European EU states.

“This is because their employees are benefiting from the existing regulation.

“They earn more than at home, but they do not have to pay social contributions to the West.”

In June, Mr Macron’s government proposed new amendments to the bill, including a reduction of the maximum time that workers can stay abroad from two years down to one year. 

Mr Schmid said the Eastern European states, affected by the Communist Party, have been at a disadvantage since 1945 and they will not be able to achieve economic equality with Western Europe economically within the next few decades.

He said: “The attempt by some of the Eastern European states to win with cheap labour in the West is therefore quite legitimate.

“It is regarded as catching up on justice.

“To clean up the Western labour marker from Eastern Europe competition: this can not be an EU compatible solution.”

Mr Schmid said Mr Macron would be weakening European solidarity for the protection of French workers. 

Despite Poland being the most important Eastern European country in terms of number of workers from Poland working in Europe, Mr Schmid said he did not visit the country because “he knows very well that Poland, especially Poland’s Jaroslaw Kaczynski, would never agree with his proposal”.

He said that by visiting only Prague and Bratisalava, Mr Macron has “split the Visegrad Group” and it is “questionable” whether dividing is compatible with the spirit of the European Union. 

The 72-year-old journalist said the French president was a nationalist who put French interests ahead of Europeans. 

Poland’s Foreign Minister, Witold Waszczykowsk, has said: “The French economy is not in a position to compete with many others in Europe, including Poland.

“Instead of forcing the French economy into competition, President Macron has come up with the idea of restricting our activity in the single market.”

Mr Schmid wrote: “Every European state or government has to follow the interests of their country and those of the EU.

“Faced with the inconsistency, complexity and sometimes the absurdity of European unification, this is an infinitely difficult task.

“Maintaining the necessary balance is a high art. 

“Macron did not achieve this balance this time.”

Mr Macron said he intended to reach an agreement on the draft posting of workers bill during with leaders from Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria by October.

The Harris Interactive poll showed 46 percent trusted in Macron’s political leadership, down five points on the previous month and 13 points off his mid-June high. His sharp fall in popularity leaves him the most unpopular French president in decades after the first 100 days in office.

Early policy announcements including an overhaul of the wealth tax and cuts to housing assistance have left a swathe of voters “with the feeling Mr Macron’s policies favour the rich”, said Jean-Daniel Levy, head of politics and opinion at Harris Interactive.