In a recent speech which garnered a great deal of attention, French President Emmanuel Macron put forward his vision for advancing the European project, suggesting that more policy areas could be communitised – that is, transferred to Brussels and thus funded jointly. Such proposals are no substitute for strengthening individual national responsibility in the euro area.
Nor, by the same token, do they have to be at odds with the principle of individual responsibility. Indeed, it is quite possible that issues like preventing climate change, securing external borders and developing common communications, energy and transport networks can be handled more efficiently at the European rather than national level. 5.