Macron unveils EU agenda before French presidential race

By SYLVIE CORBET
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French President Macron has vowed to work to make Europe “more powerful” as France’s turn in the European Union’s rotating six-month presidency starts Jan. 1 and overlaps with the country’s presidential election. Macron said Thrusday that France plans to use its EU tenure to promote “a powerful Europe in the world, fully sovereign, free to make its choices and master of its own destiny.” He announced a series of summits for the first half of next year about EU defense policies and the bloc’s relationship with Africa and the Western Balkans. The 43-year-old Macron leader has yet to formally declare whether he will seek a second term as France’s president.