PLOTTING FOR BREXIT? Macron and Merkel to meet in Marseille as EU tensions flare

The French centrist has called for closer European cooperation on security, immigration and the economy, but is facing bitter resistance from the bloc’s conservative leaders.

The meeting between the two leaders will focus on “European subjects including the euro, migration, digital technology and the international situation,” the official said on Monday.

However, the meeting is also likely to confront the ongoing issues with Brexit with EU tensions on the issue rising since Brussels chief publicly slammed Theresa May’s Chequers proposals.

Mr Macron’s office did not explain why the two were meeting in the Mediterranean city instead of the French capital, or elaborate on their agenda.

Their talks will follow a trip by Mr Macron to Luxembourg on Thursday to discuss with the prime ministers of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands efforts to deepen and consolidate European integration.

The hostility between the French centrist, who is staunchly pro-Europe, and eurosceptic, nationalist governments in Italy and Hungary reached boiling point last week after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Mr Macron was their number one enemy on immigration.

Mr Macron responded that they were right to see him as their “main opponent”.

The 40-year-old’s European visits are a key part of his campaign to drum up support for his ambitious EU reform plans, which include closer cooperation on security, immigration and the economy.

Just last week, Mr Macron prided himself on having met with “more than half” of his European counterparts since taking office in May 2017.

He has persistently sought Mrs Merkel’s support and approval, but the German leader emerged weakened after her party suffered damaging losses in the general elections last year, and her response to his proposals has been nothing short of tepid.

Mrs Merkel is under pressure from her own conservative party to clamp down on migration, after her open-door refugee policy – which has allowed some one million people to enter the country since 2015 – triggered an unexpected wave of support for the far-right.

Other European countries are also wary of Mr Macron’s EU reform drive, as deep divisions over how to handle the refugee crisis continue to dominate the bloc’s agenda.

European leaders will meet in the Austrian city of Salzburg on September 20 in an effort to bridge their deep differences on how to handle the migration problem and come up with a sustainable solution to the crisis.