First term (2017–2022) Macron formally became president on 14 May. At 39, he became the youngest president in French history and the youngest French head of state since
Napoleon. He is also the first president of France born after the establishment of the
Fifth Republic in 1958. He appointed
Patrick Strzoda as his chief of staff and
Ismaël Emelien as his special advisor for strategy, communication and speeches. On 15 May, he appointed
Édouard Philippe of
the Republicans as
Prime Minister. On the same day, he made his first official foreign visit, meeting in Berlin with Angela Merkel, the
Chancellor of Germany. The two leaders emphasised the importance of
France–Germany relations to the European Union. They agreed to draw up a "common road map" for Europe, insisting that neither was against changes to the
Treaties of the European Union. In the
2017 legislative election, Macron's party La République En Marche and its Democratic Movement allies secured a comfortable majority, winning 350 seats out of 577. After the Republicans emerged as the winners of the
Senate elections, government spokesman Christophe Castaner stated the elections were a "failure" for his party. On 3 July 2020, Macron appointed the
centre-right Jean Castex as the Prime Minister of France. Castex, described as a
social conservative, was a member of
the Republicans. The appointment was described as "doubling down on a course that is widely seen as centre-right in economic terms".
Domestic policy In his first few months as president, Macron pressed for the enactment of a package of reforms on public ethics, labour laws, taxes, and law enforcement agency powers.
Anti-corruption In response to
Penelopegate, the National Assembly passed a part of Macron's proposed law to stop mass corruption in French politics by July 2017, banning elected representatives from hiring family members. Meanwhile, the second part of the law scrapping a constituency fund was scheduled for voting after Senate objections. Macron's plan to give his wife an official role within government came under fire with criticisms ranging from its being undemocratic to what critics perceive as a contradiction to his fight against
nepotism. Following an online petition of nearly 290,000 signatures on
change.org Macron abandoned the plan. On 9 August, the National Assembly adopted the bill on public ethics, a key theme of Macron's campaign, after debates on the scrapping the constituency funds.
Labour policy and unions Macron aims to shift union-management relations away from the adversarial lines of the current French system and toward a more flexible, consensus-driven system modelled after
Germany and Scandinavia. The French government announced the proposed changes to France's labour rules ("Code du Travail"), being among the first steps taken by Macron and his government to galvanize the French economy. Macron's reform efforts have encountered resistance from some French trade unions. The largest trade union, the
CFDT, has taken a conciliatory approach to Macron's push and has engaged in negotiations with the president, while the more militant
CGT is more hostile to reforms. Macron's labour minister,
Muriel Pénicaud, is overseeing the effort. The National Assembly, including the Senate approved the proposal, allowing the government to loosen the labour laws after negotiations with unions and employers' groups. The reforms, which were discussed with unions, limit payouts for dismissals deemed unfair and give companies greater freedom to hire and fire employees as well as to define acceptable working conditions. The president signed five
decrees reforming the labour rules on 22 September. Government figures released in October 2017 revealed that during the legislative push to reform the labour code, the unemployment rate had dropped 1.8%, the biggest since 2001.
Migrant crisis Speaking on refugees and, specifically, the
Calais Jungle, Macron said on 16 January 2018 that he would not allow another refugee camp to form in Paris before outlining the government policy towards immigration and asylum. He has also announced plans to speed up asylum applications and deportations but give refugees better housing. On 23 June 2018, President Macron said: "The reality is that Europe is not experiencing a migration crisis of the same magnitude as the one it experienced in 2015", "a country like Italy has not at all the same migratory pressure as last year. The crisis we are experiencing today in Europe is a political crisis". In November 2019, Macron introduced new immigration rules to restrict the number of refugees reaching France, while stating to "
take back control" of the immigration policy. In 2022, the total number of new foreigners coming to France rose above 320,000 for the first time, with nearly a majority coming from
Africa.
Economic policy Pierre de Villiers, then-Chief of the General Staff of the Armies, stepped down on 19 July 2017 following a confrontation with Macron. De Villiers cited the military budget cut of €850 million as the main reason he was stepping down.
Le Monde later reported that De Villiers told a parliamentary group, "I will not let myself be fucked like this." Macron named
François Lecointre as De Villiers' replacement. Macron's government presented its first budget on 27 September, the terms of which reduced taxes as well as spending to bring the public deficit in line with the EU's fiscal rules. The budget replaced the
wealth tax with one targeting real estate, fulfilling Macron's campaign pledge to scrap the wealth tax. In February 2018, Macron announced a plan to offer
voluntary redundancy in an attempt to further cut jobs from the French civil service. In December 2019, Macron announced that he would scrap the 20th-century pension system and introduce a single national pension system managed by the state. In January 2020, after weeks of public transport shutdown and vandalism across Paris against the new pension plan, Macron compromised on the plan by revising the retirement age. In February, the pension overhaul was adopted by decree using
Article 49 of the French constitution. However, on 16 March 2020, Macron announced that the draft legislation would be pulled as France went into
lockdown to slow the spread of
COVID-19.
Terrorism In July 2017, the Senate approved its first reading of a controversial bill with stricter anti-terror laws, a campaign pledge of Macron. The National Assembly voted on 3 October to pass bill 415–127, with 19 abstentions. Interior Minister
Gérard Collomb described France as being "still in a state of war" ahead of the vote, with the
1 October Marseille stabbing having taken place two days prior. The Senate then passed the bill on its second reading by a 244–22 margin on 18 October. Later that day Macron stated that 13 terror plots had been foiled since early 2017. The law replaced the
state of emergency in France and made some of its provisions permanent. The bill was criticized by human rights advocates. A public poll by showed 57% of the respondents approved of it even though 62% thought it would encroach on personal freedoms. The law gives authorities expanded power to search homes, restrict movement, close places of worship, and search areas around train stations and international ports and airports. It was passed after modifications to address concerns about civil liberties. The most punitive measures will be reviewed annually and were scheduled to lapse by the end of 2020. The bill was signed into law by Macron on 30 October 2017. He announced that starting 1 November, it would bring an end to the state of emergency.
Civil rights Visiting
Corsica in February 2018, Macron sparked controversy when he rejected
Corsican nationalist wishes for
Corsican as an official language but offered to recognize Corsica in the French constitution. Macron also proposed a plan to "reorganise" the
Islamic religion in France saying: "We are working on the structuring of Islam in France and also on how to explain it, which is extremely important – my goal is to rediscover what lies at the heart of
laïcité, the possibility of being able to believe as not to believe, in order to preserve national cohesion and the possibility of having freedom of conscience." He declined to reveal further information about the plan.
Foreign policy and national defence in May 2018. ,
Justin Trudeau,
Shinzo Abe and other leaders at the 2018 G7 summit in
Charlevoix, Quebec at the G20 summit in October 2021 in 2021, following the signing of the
Quirinal Treaty and German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz in Kyiv in 2022 Macron attended the
2017 Brussels summit on 25 May 2017, his first NATO summit as president of France. At the summit, he met US President
Donald Trump for the first time. The meeting was widely publicized due to a handshake between the two of them, characterized as a "power-struggle". On 29 May 2017, Macron met with
Vladimir Putin at the
Palace of Versailles. The meeting sparked controversy when Macron denounced Russia Today and Sputnik, accusing the news agencies of being "organs of influence and propaganda, of lying propaganda". Macron also urged cooperation in the conflict against
ISIS and warned that France would respond with force in Syria if chemical weapons were used. In response to the
chemical attack in Douma, Syria in 2018, Macron directed French participation in
airstrikes against Syrian government sites, coordinated with the United States and the United Kingdom. In his first major foreign policy speech on 29 August, President Macron stated that fighting
Islamist terrorism at home and abroad was France's top priority. Macron urged a tough international stance to pressure North Korea into negotiations, on the same day it
fired a missile over Japan. He also affirmed his support for the
Iranian nuclear deal and criticized
Venezuela's government as a "dictatorship". He added that he would announce his new initiatives on the future of the European Union after the
German elections in September. At the 56th Munich Security Conference in February, Macron presented his 10-year vision policy to strengthen the European Union. Macron remarked that larger budget, integrated capital markets, effective defence policy and quick decision-making held the key for Europe. He added that reliance on NATO and especially the US and the UK was not good for Europe, and a dialogue must be established with Russia. Prior to the
45th G7 summit in
Biarritz, France, Macron hosted Vladimir Putin at the
Fort de Brégançon, stating that "Russia fully belongs within a Europe of values." At the summit itself, Macron was invited to attend on the margins by Iranian Foreign Minister
Javad Zarif. Macron, who "attempted a high-risk diplomatic gambit", thought that the Foreign Minister of Iran might be able to defuse the tense situation over the
Iranian nuclear programme in spite of the recent uptick in tensions between the Islamic Republic and the United States and Britain. In March 2019, at a time when China–U.S. economic relations were troubled with a
trade war underway, Macron and Chinese leader
Xi Jinping signed a series of 15 large-scale trade and business agreements totaling 40 billion euros (US$45 billion) which covered many sectors over a period of years. This included a €30 billion purchase of airplanes from
Airbus. Going beyond aviation, the new trade agreement covered French exports of chicken, a French-built offshore wind farm in China, a Franco-Chinese cooperation fund, as well as billions of Euros of co-financing between
BNP Paribas and the
Bank of China. Other plans included billions of euros to be spent on modernizing Chinese factories, as well as new ship building. In June 2019, Macron announced that France would designate 24 April as a
national day of remembrance for the
Armenian genocide. In July 2020, Macron called for sanctions against
Turkey for
violating Greece's and
Cyprus' sovereignty, saying it is "unacceptable that the maritime space of (EU) member states be violated and threatened". He also criticized
Turkish military intervention in Libya. Macron said that "We have the right to expect more from Turkey than from Russia, given that it is a member of NATO." In 2021, Macron was reported as saying
Northern Ireland was not truly part of the United Kingdom following disputes with UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson over implementations of the
Northern Ireland protocol. He later denied this, saying he was referring to the fact that Great Britain is separated from Northern Ireland by sea in reference to the
Irish Sea border.
French-U.S. relations became tense in September 2021 due to fallout from the
AUKUS security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The security pact is directed at countering
Chinese power in the
Indo-Pacific region. As part of the agreement, the U.S. agreed to provide
nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. After entering into AUKUS, the Australian government canceled an agreement that it had made with France for the
provision of French conventionally powered submarines, angering the French government. On 17 September, France recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the US for consultations. Despite tension in the past, France had never before withdrawn its ambassador to the United States. After a call between Macron and U.S. President
Joe Biden on request from the latter, the two leaders agreed to reduce bilateral tensions, and the White House acknowledged the crisis could have been averted if there had been open consultations between allies. On 26 November 2021, Macron and Italian Prime Minister
Mario Draghi signed the
Quirinal Treaty at the
Quirinal Palace in Rome. The treaty aimed to promote the convergence and coordination of French and Italian positions in matters of European and foreign policies, security and defence, migration policy, economy, education, research, culture and cross-border cooperation. During the
prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Macron spoke face-to-face and on the phone to Russian President
Vladimir Putin. During Macron's campaign for the
re-election, nearly two months after the
Russian invasion began, Macron called on European leaders to maintain dialogue with Putin.
Approval ratings According to an IFOP poll for
Le Journal du Dimanche, Macron started his five-year term with a 62% approval rating, which rose to 64% by 24 June. One month later, Macron suffered a 10% point drop in popularity, the largest at the beginning of a term for any president since
Jacques Chirac in 1995, and by August, his popularity had fallen off 24 percentage points since June. This was attributed to his recent confrontations with former Chief of Defence Staff
Pierre de Villiers, the nationalization of the
Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard owned by the bankrupt
STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, and a reduction in housing benefits. By the end of September 2017, seven out of ten respondents said that they believed Emmanuel Macron was respecting his campaign promises, though a majority felt that the policies the government was putting forward were "unfair". Macron's popularity fell sharply again in 2018, reaching about 25% by the end of November during the
yellow vests movement. During the
COVID-19 pandemic in France, his popularity increased, reaching 50% at its highest in July 2020.
Benalla affair On 18 July 2018,
Le Monde revealed in an article that a member of Macron's staff
Alexandre Benalla posed as a police officer and beat a protester during May Day demonstrations in Paris earlier in the year and was suspended for a period of 15 days before only being internally demoted. The Élysée failed to refer the case to the public prosecutor and a preliminary investigation into the case was not opened until the day after the publication of the article, and the lenient penalty served by Benalla raised questions within the opposition about whether the executive deliberately chose not to inform the public prosecutor as required under the code of criminal procedure.
2022 presidential campaign In the
2022 election, Macron was the first incumbent to be re-elected since Jacques Chirac defeated Jean-Marie Le Pen in the
2002 election. Macron again defeated Marine Le Pen in the runoff, this time by a closer margin, with 58.55% of the votes to Le Pen's 41.45%. Due to near-record abstentions, this represented 38.52% of registered voters, the lowest figure since
Georges Pompidou's 37.5% in
1969. The French far-right received their highest vote total since the start of the French Republic, with nationalist candidates (Le Pen,
Zemmour and
Dupont-Aignan) winning 32.3% of the votes in the first round and Le Pen achieving a record 41.5% of the votes in the second round.
Second term (2022–present) Though Macron's second inauguration took place on 7 May 2022, his second presidential term officially began on 14 May 2022.
Borne government On 16 May 2022, Prime Minister
Jean Castex resigned after 22 months as head of government. The same day, President Macron appointed
Élisabeth Borne at the
Hôtel Matignon, thus making her the second female PM in French history after
Édith Cresson between 1991 and 1992. She then formed a new government on 20 May 2022.
2022 legislative election In June 2022, one month into his second term, less than two weeks before the end of the French
presidency of the Council of the EU and days after he called for voters to hand him a "solid majority" in a controversial 'tarmac speech', Macron lost his parliamentary majority and was returned a
hung parliament in the second round of the
2022 legislative election: Macron's
presidential coalition, which enjoyed a 115-seat majority going into the election, failed to reach the threshold of 289 seats needed to command an overall majority in the
National Assembly, retaining only 251 out of the 346 it had held in the previous Assembly, and falling 38 short of an absolute majority. Crucially, three close political allies to President Macron were defeated in the elections: incumbent President of the National Assembly
Richard Ferrand, Macron's own LREM parliamentary party leader
Christophe Castaner and MoDem parliamentary group leader
Patrick Mignola, thus effectively "decapitating" Macron's parliamentary bloc leadership and further weakening the President's political position in hung parliament territory. Three government ministers resigned after losing their seats:
Justine Bénin (junior minister for the Sea),
Brigitte Bourguignon (Minister for Health and Prevention) and
Amélie de Montchalin (Minister for Ecological Transition). Macron's government, still led by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, was reshuffled in early July 2022 and continued as a
minority administration, after talks with opposition leaders to form a stable
majority government failed.
Domestic affairs Macron's second presidential term began with two significant political controversies. Hours after the new Borne cabinet was announced, rape accusations against newly appointed Minister for Solidarity
Damien Abad were made public, and on 28 May, the handling of the
2022 UEFA Champions League final chaos at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis drew criticism at home and abroad. Despite its minority status in the legislature after the 2022 legislative election, Macron's government passed bills to ease the cost-of-living crisis, to repeal the
COVID-era "state of health emergency", and to revive the French nuclear energy sector. However, government proposals were defeated several times in the National Assembly and by the end of 2022, the
Borne cabinet had had to use the provisions of
Article 49.3 of the Constitution ten times in a row to pass the 2023 Government Budget and Social Security Budget. In May 2024,
protests and riots broke out in
New Caledonia. On 22 May, Macron visited the island.
Pension reform In March 2023, Macron's government passed a law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, partly bypassing Parliament by again resorting to Article 49.3 to break the parliamentary deadlock.
Nationwide protests that had begun when the bill was introduced back in January increased in intensity after the reform was passed without a solemn vote.
Votes of no-confidence in the Borne government On 20 March 2023, Macron's cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Borne, survived a cross-party
motion of no-confidence by only nine votes, the slimmest margin for such a vote since 1992. On 12 June 2023, his government survived its 17th no-confidence motion since the beginning of the 16th legislature; the motion, brought by the left-wing NUPES coalition, fell 50 votes short of the 289 votes needed.
Nahel Merzouk riots In early summer 2023, French authorities faced
riots following the
killing of Nahel M., aged 17, by a police officer during a traffic stop. To calm widespread unrest, comparable in intensity to the
2005 French riots, Macron's administration ramped up government response, with a total of 45,000 police officers deployed on the ground and a ministerial order advising courts to apply harsher sentences and accelerated procedures: this crackdown resulted in over 1,300 arrests on the fourth night of unrest alone, bringing the total number of arrests since the riots' beginning to over 2,000 as of 1 July.
2023 government reshuffle On 20 July 2023, Macron carried out a
government reshuffle at the end of the "hundred days of appeasement and action" he called for in April 2023 following the violent protests surrounding the passage of his pension system reform.
Pap Ndiaye and
Marlène Schiappa were sacked as part of the reshuffle.
Defence policy On 1 August 2023, Macron signed into law a multi-year military planning bill, which set the stage for a 40%-increase in military spending to a total of €413 billion between 2024 and 2030, after it was passed by the French parliament on 13 July 2023.
Immigration policy In February 2023, Macron's government introduced an immigration and asylum bill aimed at removing deportation safeguards, fast-tracking asylum application process and immigration litigation, while also facilitating legalization of undocumented workers. His government later pulled the draft legislation amid fears of defeat in Parliament, instead planning to hold talks with the centre-right
LR party before reintroducing the bill in the autumn. In August 2023, in a lengthy interview with weekly magazine
Le Point, Macron said that France "must significantly reduce immigration, starting with illegal immigration" because the "current situation is not sustainable". On 11 December 2023, the "flagship" immigration bill introduced by Macron's government was unexpectedly defeated after the narrow passage of a
motion for preliminary dismissal in the National Assembly. Political commentators and news media described the vote as a "spectacular debacle", eventually sparking a major political crisis for Macron's minority administration. In an effort to salvage the bill, Macron's government sent the draft legislation to a
joint parliamentary committee: it resulted in a deal with the conservative-controlled
Senate on a drastically hardened bill. On 19 December 2023, the French Parliament passed the piece of legislation thanks to support from the conservative
LR and far-right
RN parliamentary groups and in spite of a major rebellion from Macron's own coalition and ministers. Health Minister
Aurélien Rousseau, whom Macron had appointed to the government only six months earlier, resigned shortly after the vote.
Constitutional reform On the 65th anniversary of the
French Constitution on 4 October 2023, Macron unveiled avenues for constitutional reform: broadening the scope and relaxing rules for referendums; enshrining the right to abortion and climate protection in the Constitution; stepping up the level of
territorial devolution; giving some form of political autonomy to
Corsica and
New Caledonia. On 4 March 2024, a
joint session of the French Parliament passed a constitutional amendment supported by Macron to protect abortion as a 'guaranteed freedom' in the Constitution. It represented the first constitutional reform since 2008 and the first since Macron took office in 2017.
Attal government In January 2024, in the wake of the
government crisis produced by the passage of the 'controversial' immigration bill, Macron requested Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne to resign and subsequently replaced her by Education minister
Gabriel Attal, making him both the youngest head of government in French history and the first openly gay man ever to hold the job. The new Attal cabinet was widely described as the most right-leaning government since the start of the
Macron Presidency: out of the 14 Cabinet ministers appointed on 11 January 2024 by Macron and Attal, 57% are former members of the conservative
UMP/LR party, while prominent left-leaning ministers of the outgoing Borne government were sacked, moves described as indicating a notable tilt to the right.
Economy In February 2024, amid slowing economic growth and disappointing unemployment figures, Macron's government unveiled €10 billion in emergency spending cuts to hold to its 2024 deficit goal. A month later, Macron convened a 'crisis meeting' to discuss the state of France's public finances amid reports showing that the government had heavily missed its 2023 fiscal targets, with a bigger-than-forecasted deficit, putting the country's credit rating at risk of downgrade.
2024 snap legislative election On 9 June 2024, following the results of the
2024 European Parliament elections in which his centrist grouping received only 14.6% of the votes, finishing nearly 17 points behind Le Pen's RN party, Macron unexpectedly dissolved the National Assembly and called for an
early legislative election to be held on 30 June and 7 July 2024. In the first round of the election, on 30 June, Macron's grouping received only 20.04% of the votes nationwide, placing third well behind the hard-right
RN (33.15%) and the left-wing
NFP alliance (27.99%), which constituted the worst electoral performance for a governing coalition in a general election since the start of the modern French Republic in 1870. Exit polls released shortly after 8pm on 30 June suggested the RN-led alliance was on course to win either a plurality of seats or an outright majority in the second round, while Macron's coalition was set to lose at least half of the seats it won in 2022. In the second round, on 7 July, Macron was handed another hung parliament with the left-wing coalition unexpectedly winning a plurality of seats though 90 to 100 seats short of an overall majority, leaving the left theoretically unable to form a government on its own. Macron's grouping lost both 86 seats and its status as the largest parliamentary bloc while the RN-led alliance, though dramatically underperforming the polls, still managed to make significant gains, eventually becoming the largest single party in the new National Assembly. The results presented unprecedented potential for political crisis and parliamentary gridlock. Shortly after exit polls were released on the night of 7 July, Macron's Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, announced he would tender his resignation to the President. The following day, Macron refused Attal's resignation, instead asking him to stay on until a new government could be formed. On 27 August, Macron refused to appoint NFP-designate
Lucie Castets as prime minister. After holding talks with leaders from parties represented in Parliament in an effort to find a working majority, Macron appointed conservative figure
Michel Barnier as Prime Minister on 5 September and invited him to form a "unity government". Barnier's appointment was seen as a growing sign of Le Pen's influence on French politics since she had previously blocked the appointment of
Xavier Bertrand, another conservative figure seen as a serious contender for the premiership.
Vote of no-confidence in the Barnier government In early December 2024, Prime Minister Michel Barnier resorted to Article 49.3 of the Constitution to pass the 2025 Social Security budget without parliamentary approval. In response to Barnier's move, the National Assembly approved a vote of no confidence on 4 December, effectively bringing down the government. Barnier resigned, but Macron vowed to stay in office until the end of his term. It was the first French cabinet to be toppled by Parliament since 1962. Macron addressed the country on 5 December. He accepted the resignation of Barnier but vowed to remain in office until the end of his term. He blamed an alliance of 'extreme left and extreme right' for the collapse of the French government.
Foreign affairs in October 2022 and Chinese President
Xi Jinping at the
2023 France–China Summit On 16 June 2022, Macron visited Ukraine alongside German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz and Italy's Prime Minister
Mario Draghi. He met with Ukraine's President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and expressed "European Unity" for Ukraine. He said that the nations that remained
neutral in the
Russo-Ukrainian War made a historic mistake and were complicit in the
new imperialism. in May 2023 In September 2022, Macron criticized the United States,
Norway and other "friendly"
natural gas supplier states for the extremely high prices of their supplies, saying in October 2022 that Europeans are "paying four times as much as the price at which you sell to your industry. That is not exactly the meaning of friendship." Macron and his wife attended the
state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, London, on 19 September 2022, and the
coronation of King Charles III the following year. On 23 October 2022, Macron became the first foreign leader to meet new Italian Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni, just a day after she and her
ministers were sworn into office. During a
summit to China with European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen, which included a formal meeting with
Xi Jinping, the
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and
President of China, Macron called for Europe to reduce its dependence on the
United States in general and to stay neutral and avoid being drawn into any possible confrontation between the U.S. and
China over
Taiwan. Speaking after a three-day state visit to China, Macron emphasised his theory of
strategic autonomy, suggesting that Europe could become a "
third superpower". He argued that Europe should focus on boosting its own defence industries and additionally reduce its dependence on the
United States dollar (USD). in a follow-up speech in
The Hague to further outline his vision of strategic autonomy for Europe. On 7 June 2023, a report by the
pan-European think tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found that most Europeans agree with Macron's views on China and the United States. In February 2023, he welcomed Ethiopian Prime Minister
Abiy Ahmed in Paris to normalize relations between France and
Ethiopia, strained by the
Tigray War between the Ethiopian government and
Tigray rebels. on 12 July 2023 On 31 May 2023 Macron visited the GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava, where he again delivered a speech on European sovereignty. During the question and answer session that followed the Bratislava speech, he said that negotiating with Putin may have to take priority over any war crimes tribunal which some others, including Zelensky, wish to see. On 12 June 2023, Macron promised to deliver more ammunition, weapons and armed vehicles to help Ukrainian forces with the ongoing
counter-offensive to liberate Russian-
occupied southeastern
Ukraine. At the
NATO Summit in Vilnius, he promised to supply Ukraine with
Scalp long-range cruise missiles to hit Russian targets deep behind the front lines. On 10 November 2023, he said that what Russia is doing in Ukraine is "imperialism and colonialism" and it was the "duty" of France and other countries to help Ukraine defend itself, but added that maybe the time will come to hold fair
peace negotiations and find a solution with Russia. In June 2023 Macron hosted a global climate finance conference described by many as the new
Bretton Woods Conference. The purpose is to adjust the global economy to the contemporary threats of
climate change and hunger. One of the propositions is to offer low income countries aid instead of credit so they can use their resources for stopping climate change and poverty instead of debt payments. Macron supported the idea, but a climate activist from Uganda remarked that the promises were meaningless if at the same time Macron supported projects such as the
East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a major threat to the climate and to the drinking water of 40 million people. At the summit Macron proposed an
international taxation system and
debt restructuring but stressed it can have an effect only with
international cooperation. in Jerusalem, Israel, 24 October 2023 In July 2023, Macron postponed his planned state visit to Germany due to the ongoing
Nahel M. riots. In October 2023, Macron condemned
Hamas's actions during the
Gaza war and expressed his support to
Israel and its right to self-defense. On 10 November 2023, he called for a ceasefire and urged Israel to stop
bombing Gaza and killing civilians. In July 2025, Macron announced that at the next meeting of the
UN General Assembly, France would officially recognise a Palestinian state. In February 2024, during a meeting with other European states, Macron generated controversy by suggesting
sending ground troops to Ukraine. On 28 May 2024, Macron gave Ukraine permission to use
SCALP EG missiles against targets on Russian soil. Such usage was instructed to be limited "to neutralize military sites from which missiles are being fired, military sites from which Ukraine is being attacked". On 24 February 2025, during a meeting with US President
Donald Trump, Macron said that a
truce between Ukraine and Russia could be agreed in the coming weeks. On 22 February 2025, Macron pledged to continue its supply of defense equipment to
Armenia after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, as well as humanitarian aid of 29 million euros to
displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. He also stated support for the
International Court of Justice's decision on 17 November 2023, of which calls on the rights of ethnic Armenian residents to return safely to their homeland. , Macron, British Prime Minister
Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusk with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy in
Ukraine in May 2025 In February 2025, Macron characterised Russia as an "existential threat" to Europe, convening a special meeting in Paris to coordinate European responses under the
Weimar+ framework. In March 2025, German lawmakers approved an
amendment to the Basic Law that would allow
Friedrich Merz's government to implement the most massive rearmament of Germany since
World War II. Germany's decision to massively
increase defense spending was welcomed by Macron. Following the
Israeli strikes on Iran on 13 June 2025, Macron called for "maximum restraint" while reaffirming "Israel's right to defend itself and ensure its security." On 17 June 2025, he claimed that president Trump's haste departure from the
G7 summit, was to reach a cease fire between Israel and Iran. To which Trump responded "Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!". On 23 June 2025, Macron called Trump's
air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites "illegal" and counterproductive, and called for the resumption of diplomatic talks with Iran. at the UN General Assembly in New York City, 23 September 2025 In January 2026, following the
capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, Macron formally called for
Edmundo González to lead a "peaceful, democratic" transition in
Venezuela. Macron praised the removal of the "Maduro dictatorship," stating that the Venezuelan people "can only rejoice" at being rid of his rule. On 9 January 2026, Macron, along with British Prime Minister
Keir Starmer and German Chancellor
Friedrich Merz, issued a joint statement addressing the escalating
anti-government protests in Iran, which had started in late December 2025. In their statement, they called on the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint and to avoid further
violence. During his speech at the
World Economic Forum in Davos on 20 January 2026, Macron emphasized the importance of increasing Chinese
foreign direct investment (FDI) in key European sectors to promote economic growth and facilitate technology transfer. He urged
China to move beyond simply exporting products to Europe and instead focus on local manufacturing and physical presence on the continent. , and Syrian Foreign Minister
Asaad al-Shaibani, 24 April 2026 In March 2026, Macron described the
U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran as illegal, while maintaining that Iran held "primary responsibility" for the regional escalation. Despite criticizing the strikes, he reaffirmed France's commitment to regional allies and deployed the aircraft carrier
Charles de Gaulle to the Mediterranean for defensive and escort missions.
Controversies Uber Files On 10 July 2022,
The Guardian revealed that Macron had assisted Uber in lobbying during his term as the Minister of Economics and Finance, leading to calls from opposition lawmakers for a parliamentary inquiry. In his own defence, Macron expressed that he "did his job" and that he would "do it again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow". Macron swore the
Constitution of Andorra through Strzoda in an act that took place on 15 June 2017 in
Casa de la Vall. Macron visited the country on a State visit on 12 September 2019. The following day he spoke at the historic building of the
General Council of Andorra alongside Episcopal Co-Prince Joan Enric Vives, Prime Minister
Xavier Espot and the General Syndic
Roser Suñé Pascuet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Andorran government asked France for economic aid, but Macron refused, arguing that the
Bank of France could not offer loans to another country without the approval of the
European Central Bank. In January 2024, former New Caledonian high commissioner
Patrice Faure was appointed chief of staff to Macron, and in November, his representative to Andorra. ==Political positions==