| When mainstream politicians sound defeatist or disoriented, while the far-right breathes optimism and determination, something must be wrong. At a time when the European Union is resetting its institutions, last week French President Emmanuel Macron repeated that the risk exists that our Union could collapse. At an event in Berlin on Thursday, Macron said that the EU “could die” and that if it continues with a “classical” free-trade agenda while over-regulating and under-investing, it will be “out of the market” in two or three years. The day before Macron and his host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, diverged on key topics, including duties on imports of Chinese vehicles and trade talks with South American countries. More importantly, Macron and Scholz have different views about Mario Draghi's report on Europe's competitiveness, which proposes a new wave of joint EU borrowing to invest in strategic sectors. This will be on the agenda of the next EU summit. While France calls for a new EU, for Germany this is a no-go. The famous Franco-German engine turns out to be a hybrid that suffers from too many complexities and downsides. Conversely, far-right politicians are stepping on the gas. On Sunday, the Patriots for Europe group, including Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Dutch anti-Islam and anti-migration Geert Wilders, gathered for a team-building exercise in Pontida, northern Italy, and the mood was upbeat. | 
