Former French economy minister Bruno Le Maire has proposed creating a six-nation European federation among France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands while remaining inside the European Union.
The proposal, laid out in his new manifesto L’An I – Manifeste pour une autre France (Year One – Manifesto for another France), published on August 23, calls for the six countries to operate with their own constitution, decision-making system and capital thus creating a political core within the wider EU-27.
In his roughly 60-page manifesto Le Maire explicitly criticises the European Commission, which he describes as a “technocratic monster” that has moved beyond its proper role.
Le Maire argues that the EU’s 27-member structure has become too cumbersome to respond effectively to growing competition from the US and China.
Rather than attempting to dismantle the European Commission, he proposes creating a sufficiently powerful bloc of member states capable of counterbalancing it.
The Commission, he argues, has violated the principle of subsidiarity by encroaching on areas that should remain under national control, including defence and foreign affairs. He accuses the institution of behaving as “a state above the states, a power above the peoples”.
His proposed solution is to “put it back in its proper place” by concentrating political and economic power among six of Europe’s largest economies.
Under the proposal, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands would retain their national identities and institutions but pool sovereignty in a limited number of strategic areas.
These would include semiconductors and artificial intelligence, university degrees, financial markets, economic policy and border controls.
The new federation would have its own constitution and common rules for decision-making, with its capital chosen by its participating populations.
It would rest on a new treaty put to a popular vote in the six countries and would be headed by a president chosen by his or her peers, replacing the President of the European Council.
The proposed federation would also mark a break with the economic doctrine that has prevailed in Brussels.
Le Maire calls the belief in unrestricted free trade a “dangerous chimera” and advocates stronger protection for European industry against subsidised foreign competitors.
The federation would impose tariffs on heavily subsidised or carbon-intensive imports, with Chinese electric vehicles among the products likely to be targeted.
It would also require high-tech products sold on the European single market to contain a minimum share of European components. Le Maire specifically cites products such as iPhones and laptops, proposing a 30 per cent tariff for goods failing to meet the requirement.
At the same time, European competition rules would be loosened to allow companies to consolidate and create larger industrial champions in areas such as semiconductors, data processing and space communications.
He has put the European share of the global semiconductor market at less than 10 per cent, against 40 per cent in 1990, and has said the continent would need to invest €100 billion a year to close the gap.
Le Maire calls for the construction of a European-scale data storage and processing infrastructure, potentially “starting from Mistral”, the French artificial intelligence company.
He also advocates creating a low-Earth-orbit satellite network capable of providing an independent European communications infrastructure and reducing reliance on Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The broader objective is to move Europe from what Le Maire describes as dependence towards independence in industrial, technological, financial and military capabilities.
The plan would go well beyond the enhanced cooperation mechanism already available under the EU treaties, which requires at least nine member states and applies only where the EU does not hold exclusive competence. A federation of six with its own constitution, acting on borders, economic policy and trade, would require a separate treaty and a complex accommodation with EU law.
Le Maire is not alone in pressing the idea. German finance minister Lars Klingbeil came out in favour of a six-country core in February, and Le Maire has traced the concept to a 1994 paper by the Christian Democrat politicians Wolfgang Schäuble and Karl Lamers on a European hard core.
He links this geopolitical shift to French domestic politics, portraying Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) as an “objective ally” of MAGA interests.
The manifesto has been published eight months before the first round of the 2027 French presidential election, as Le Maire seeks to “open the debate” surrounding the European Union.
Le Maire, who spent seven years at the finance ministry and now advises the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML, says he is not a candidate, though he has not closed the door on running.
The former minister presents his manifesto as an alternative to both the National Rally and the left-wing La France Insoumise.
