What is Emmanuel Macron doing in Strasbourg this Friday?

The President of the Republic is expected today late morning in Alsace to sign the fifteenth three-year contract “Strasbourg European Capital”. An essential contract to maintain and develop the city’s European status.

Emmanuel Macron is expected to arrive late in the morning, this Friday, April 26, in the Alsatian capital. Objective of this visit: the signing with great fanfare of the three-year contract “Strasbourg, Alsatian capital”. The Head of State is expected at the European School around 11 a.m. After the signing of the contract scheduled for around 1 p.m., he is expected to meet the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. A way of reaffirming the importance of Strasbourg for Europe.

This is the fifteenth three-year contract to be signed. But it is one of the most important in financial terms: 296 million euros for the period 2024-2026. The first dates from 1980. The signatories: the French State, of course, which contributes 32%, the City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg (26.9%), the European Community of Alsace (7. 6%) and the Grand Est Region (12%). Cross-financing which aims to support the European status of Strasbourg.

“It’s about helping Strasbourg position itself as a European capitalexplains Cédric Pellen, lecturer in political science at the University of Strasbourg. This contract aims to stabilize the European Parliament, the Council of Europe but also the European Court of Human Rights in the Alsatian capital. It is also about strengthening the weight of the European Parliament in relation to Brussels. From the moment MEPs were elected by direct universal suffrage in 1979, Brussels gained importance. It is there that the European Commission and the Council of the European Union are based. We must therefore maintain Strasbourg’s European roots in a city where MEPs are not there all year round.“

During the nineties, the debate raged around the Strasbourg square. Some have called for the repatriation of all European institutions to Brussels. It was necessary to defend the Alsatian capital. The three-year contract is one of the weapons used to maintain Strasbourg in this place, and even develop its role. The contract for the years 2006-2008 had also broken all records, since it totaled 362 million in public money.

The three-year contract signed today by Emmanuel Macron nonetheless remains one of the most financially burdensome. It includes the financing of the Osmose building (65 million euros), a building built next to the Parliament, rented by the latter. This commitment is supported by two major axes : the accessibility of the city as well as its influence. Clear : the State spares no effort to reaffirm its support for Strasbourg.

On the accessibility side therefore : the financing of several studies concerning the new Euroairport rail link, the reduction of certain airport taxes at Strasbourg-Entzheim airport, the project for a direct link between Strasbourg station and the European institutions.

In terms of attractiveness, the field is vast. Three support funds are renewed : the first concerns cultural actions, the second democracy and the third research and innovation. Among the projects selected : funding for the renovation of the Opéra du Rhin, the Palais des Fêtes and studies concerning the Palais Rohan.

“This contract also allows local authorities to finance certain projects which are not directly linked to Europe as such, but which contribute to the influence of the city, which is fundamental, insists Cédric Pellen. It’s a broader, more symbolic way of acting. This city does not only live four days a month through the plenary sessions of the European Parliament. And it is by developing all of this that we also perpetuate Strasbourg’s European roots. Of course, the preparatory work of MEPs is done in Brussels. But the laws are passed here. The European Parliament has a major role.“

A place that must be defended and remembered. Especially since the European institutions represent a significant economic weight for Strasbourg. The sessions of the European Parliament mean more than one hundred thousand hotel nights per year and 3,500 additional people in the Alsatian capital each time for four days. A boon for local commerce.