Does the Presidency of the Council Still Have the Means to Achieve Its Ambitions? The French Presidency 2022 and the Promotion of EU Sovereignty

Emmanuel Macron, elected President of the French Republic in 2017, faced lofty expectations from senior European officials. His outspoken support for the European Union (EU) amid a political climate rife with Euroscepticism kindled hope for a resurgence of European integration under the concept of European sovereignty. However, a lack of supportive partners and various crises, including the “Yellow Vests” revolt in France and the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic, dashed these hopes. The French Presidency of the Council of the EU, scheduled for the first half of 2022, offered Macron a final chance to demonstrate his commitment to the European project before his first presidential term concluded. This period was especially significant, coinciding with the French presidential election in May 2022, in which Macron intended to stand as a candidate. Consequently, the proposed program was ambitious but met with interruptions due to the electoral campaign. This chapter investigates the role of the French presidency in the Union's response to the war in Ukraine from both administrative and political perspectives. Questions raised include: Was it in the driver's seat? How did it cooperate with the presidencies of the European Council and the Commission? What insights can we glean from this experience regarding the influence of the Council of the European Union's presidency in the post-Lisbon era?