Macron's European project - two faces of Europeanism

The main goal of this paper is to study and question the idea of Europeanism in the case of France through the example of the current President Emmanuel Macron. E. Macron will be presented as a pro-European actor, while his pro-European ideas will be studied through the historical, political and ideological context in which they emerged and as a reaction to the emergence of various crises (migrant crisis, Brexit and COVID-19 pandemic) and actors (National Front and Viktor Orbán). This context will also be used as an introduction to the debate on the dual character of Macron’s Europeanism - between statism and supranationalism. In addition, within such a debate the possibility of using Europeanist narratives for nationalist (state, republican) goals will be studied. In the second part of the paper, the connection between Macron's ideological determinations and constructivist and realistic theory will be sought. Special emphasis will be placed on the Sorbonne speech (2017) of E. Macron, which represents, as we see from subsequent speeches (eg the speech on Defense and Deterrence Strategy 2020) and pro-European narratives (European strategic autonomy and European sovereignty), a kind of Macron's political, strategic and policy framework. To this end, the consequences of Macron's ideas and actions on the dynamics of (dis)integration processes of the EU, especially during crises, will be studied. In this sense, one of the key conclusions will go towards the idea that the constructivist idea can become the new bearer of the realist world, just as European narratives can be used for the goals of statism.