Britain has no need to fear Fortress Europe

It’s now a tradition for an ­incoming French president to make his first ­foreign trip a visit to Berlin. Yet even by past standards, Emmanuel Macron’s dash to meet Angela Merkel on the day after he was inaugurated seemed indecently quick. The lightning meeting at the German ­Chancellery was a statement of intent by the pair that the European Union is not only far from ­finished but that they intend to carry on with an even deeper union.

Macron says he wants no less than a ­‘historic reconstruction’ of Europe, with a single finance minister to cover the ­eurozone. Contrary to his reputation as an internationalist, he called for a ‘Buy European Act’, which would freeze non-EU companies out of public contracts across the EU, and for rules to prevent strategic companies falling into the hands of non-EU owners. While less forthcoming with big ideas, Merkel spoke of the harmonisation of company taxes across Europe.