‘Mercron’ pact seeks to reinvent eurozone

The challenge facing France and Germany is to capitalise on victories for pro-European governments without provoking a backlash in other EU states, writes Mark Leonard.

Confidence has returned to Europe’s chancelleries just in the nick of time, what with US president Donald Trump due in Europe on Friday.

During the annus horribilis of 2016, many feared for the EU’s survival. But in 2017, there is renewed hope for the European project, owing to Emmanuel Macron’s election as president of France, and electoral defeats for far-right populists in the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany, as well as Mr Trump’s plunging popularity at home.