5 ideas from French President

Macron for fixing Europe

Mending Europe's frayed unity is such a high priority for new French President
Emmanuel Macron that he's visiting neighboring Germany and its
Chancellor Angela Merkel on his first day in office.
That should give a welcome burst of energy to the much-maligned European
Union and efforts to fix it, even if Macron and Merkel won't necessarily agree on
how. Here's a look at five key Macron ideas for Europe:

JOINT DEFENSE

The EU's precursor was created to bolster trade among European countries
and help ensure they never go to war with each other again. Macron wants to
go a step further and create new joint European military structures.

European countries already cooperate in some foreign operations and through

NATO. But Macron notably wants more support from other EU countries for
French military operations against Islamic extremists in Syria, Iraq and Africa's
Sahel region.

Germany, too, has supported greater defense cooperation, but not all European
countries are on board and it is not clear how such a new structure would
work alongside U.S.-dominated NATO.

NO MORE BREXITS

Macron will push a firm EU line with Britain in its negotiations to leave the bloc,
in part to deter other members from trying to leave. Germany is likely to support
that stance, having made clear that London can't expect a better deal outside
the EU than it had as a member of the bloc.

The new French leader recognizes that many Europeans see the EU as a
distant, uncaring bureaucracy and wants to remedy that through vast
consultations with citizens across Europe.

He says it's unfair for people like the Brexit campaigners to place blanket blame
on the EU for job losses, terrorist attacks and other ills without acknowledging
its benefits and without recognizing that all major EU decisions are approved
by national leaders or the democratically elected European Parliament.

SHARED BUDGET
One of Macron's most controversial ideas is a shared budget for the countries
that use the euro currency.

Macron says such a budget would allow for joint investments, provide
emergency financial help, and help the eurozone better react to a financial
crisis. It would be managed by a newly created joint finance minister for the
eurozone.
Germany, which as Europe's strongest economy has borne the brunt of bailouts
for weaker eurozone members, is not thrilled by this idea. The German Finance
Ministry, however, is trying to be pragmatic and "focus on what's quickly
possible."

MATCHING TAXES

Macron wants the 19 nations that use the euro to harmonize their tax policies to
allow for fairer economic competition between companies that want to work in
other countries.

The new eurozone finance minister would also oversee this, which Macron calls
an effort to fight "social dumping," when companies move work or workers to
countries with lower taxes.

However for this to work, Macron would have to make domestically difficult
changes to France's labor costs and taxes, currently among the highest in
Europe. Germany, which instituted a painful process of economic reform more
than a decade ago, would welcome its western neighbor following suit.

TOUGHER BORDERS

To deal with waves of migration and the threat of foreign extremists, Macron
wants 5,000 new guards deployed on the outer borders of Europe's Schengen
passport-free travel zone. He also wants common standards for dealing with
refugees and migrants through a European asylum agency.

To stem the refugee flow, he argues for a political solution to the Syrian crisis
and more efforts to stabilize Libya and other countries in the region over the
long term.

Merkel's government has been grateful for Macron's support for her open-
armed approach to refugees, which Macron said "rescued Europe's honor" -
rare clear backing on that front from a senior European official.