For his return to Europe, Emmanuel Macron chose Ireland. The President of the Republic is indeed expected in Dublin this Thursday, where he will meet with his Irish counterpart Michael Higgins, as well as with Prime Minister Micheál Martin. Several challenges lie behind this visit.
It is on the one hand for the Head of State to respect his commitment, issued after his election in 2017, to visit the 27 countries of the European Union during his five-year term. He had not yet been to Ireland, so it will be done today. He will then be missing only three countries to keep his promise, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary.
Checking Ireland off in his travel diary is obviously not Emmanuel Macron’s only goal. The Atlantic country is today at the center of two hot issues, dear to the French President.
First, Brexit, and more specifically one of its flagship provisions, called the Northern Irish Protocol. Intended to avoid the reestablishment of a physical border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, it effectively created a customs border between the British province and the island of Great Britain. Enough to cause supply problems and political tensions in Northern Ireland.
Faced with this, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson demands a renegotiation of the protocol, which the European Union refuses. France is on the same line, while saying it is ready to “discuss” “concrete solutions” to better implement it, the Elysee told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
During their working lunch, Emmanuel Macron and Micheál Martin should discuss the actions to be taken if ever Boris Johnson unilaterally pushes back customs controls on certain products (especially agri-food) or even suspends the application of the protocol, according to the newspaper. The Irish Times.
Convince Ireland on the Global Corporate Tax
The visit of the President of the Republic to Ireland also aims to convince Dublin to support the project for a minimum global corporate tax of at least 15%, approved by 131 countries in early July, under the aegis of the OECD ( Organization for Development and Economic Cooperation). A file on which France is one of the most advanced countries. But nine states are resistant to this reform, including Ireland, which is due to its attractive tax rate of 12.5%.
“We come to Dublin to listen and understand what difficulties are preventing Ireland from joining,” an adviser to Emmanuel Macron told the Irish Times, the president being accompanied in Ireland by ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian (Foreign Affairs), Bruno Le Maire (Economy) and Clément Beaune (European Affairs).
Although this is not a subject specific to Ireland, Emmanuel Macron should also take advantage of his visit to Dublin to address the crisis in Afghanistan, sparked by the takeover of the Taliban on August 15, and the sensitive debate on the reception of refugees that it has engendered. “A question that arises at the European level,” the Elysee told AFP.
Finally, Paris and Dublin intend to deepen their bilateral relations by signing a “common action plan”, including in particular an agreement on teacher mobility, similar to the Erasmus program for students.