Share :

Download PDF :

Politico (22 October 2025)

Clea Caulcutt, Nicholas Vinocur, Giorgio Leali and Tim Ross

France’s Emmanuel Macron will arrive in Brussels for a key European Council meeting Thursday with his reputation as the continent’s idea man long gone and replaced by a new one: chief party pooper.

As European Union leaders gather to game-plan in the face of existential crises ranging from combatting the rise of the far right to preventing a bad Trump-Putin deal on Ukraine, they can no longer rely on Macron’s grandiose ideas.

Conversations with 10 diplomats and officials from across the European Union, all of whom were granted anonymity to candidly discuss the French president’s political fortunes, suggest the 47-year-old centrist’s domestic troubles and focus on his legacy have made him an obstacle to progress rather than a motor of it.

Click for more