After the French president voiced his proposals for a better Europe, including an appropriation of Donald Trump’s “America First” approach for the bloc, a response came from Germany. However it was not Angela Merkel, who outlined measures to tackle the EU’s most acute problems, including migration and the integration of Muslims.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who succeeded Angela Merkel as the leader of the Christian Democratic Union in December 2018, has lashed out at statism or centralism and suggested combating populism in a column for the respected German newspaper Welt on Sunday. Her op-ed, titled “Fixing Europe” (“Europa Richtig Machen”) followed an article by French President Emmanuel Macron outlining his European plans, and presented proposals for future cooperation in all major policy areas in Europe. The main goal is summed up with the idea that “Our Europe must be stronger” and is about securing the foundations of European prosperity.