French presidential candidate and Deputy Gabriel Attal called for a “United States of Europe” in a key speech made last week, as part of his bid to become the country’s next head of state.
Attal is general secretary of the Renaissance party, a centrist, pro-European party founded by current President Emmanuel Macron, who is due to stand down following next year’s elections, scheduled for April 18, 2027.
He had previously served as prime minister from January to September 2024, the youngest person to serve in that role in French post-war history – as well as the first openly gay person to do so.
Attal put forward his candidacy to succeed Macron in May 2026.
Spectators speculate that the centrist vote could be split between Attal and former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe of the Horizons party, which could potentially provide an opening for the far-left or far-right.
Speaking in Reims on September 18, Attal suggested that the current EU model of 27 member states had “reached its limits,” and proposed instead a smaller group of countries with a single economy, tax rate, business and labour laws.
“With the EU, we created the single market. With the euro, the single currency,” he stated. “What I am proposing today is to create a single economy.”
Earlier, on September 16, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for Canada to become the Union’s first “associate member,” a proposal which was welcomed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Read more: “There’s no reason” Canada’s EU bid has to end U.S. partnership, Atlantic Council expert says
Whilst Attal has insisted he is not proposing a single European superstate, maintaining that member countries would still control their own armies, diplomacy, and courts, the candidate has called for a founding treaty to be signed by all willing member states, with economic, technological, and ecological federalism, in addition to a European democratically-elected president to govern on areas that would be federalized.
“The governance of the United States of Europe must find its legitimacy at the ballot box,” he said. “I propose electing the first president of Europe by direct universal suffrage, so that he may have a clear and strong mandate to act.”
Per Attal, this is a necessary measure in order for European countries to retain their independence and security in the face of aggression from the U.S., Russia, and China, as well as from the threat of climate change.
“The grammar of geopolitics has changed. We now live in a world of continent-powers,” he added. “Facing them, Europe is fragmented. Splintered. Divided. And so, there are only two possible choices: the fall of the EU, becoming the 51st American state or the 24th Chinese province; or a new dream, a dream within reach: the United States of Europe.”
This new organization would allow Europe to “conquer” AI, space, decarbonised energy, defence, and even “invent the first vaccine against cancer.”
If elected president next year, Attal claimed his first mission would be to convene the United States of Europe as the only way forward.
He has outlined a vision of initially 8 to 10 countries, and clarified he would also extend an invitation to the UK – itself no longer a member of the EU since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
“I hope that one day the United Kingdom will find its place again in this adventure if it freely chooses to join it,” he stated.
Whether this proposal will give him an edge in the upcoming French elections remains to be seen. Whilst it places him as the most enthusiastically pro-European of the candidates, polls have shown the French to be more pessimistic about the EU than other Europeans, with the Eurosceptic, far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen currently leading.
Jordan Bardella, president of Le Pen’s National Rally, explained to The Telegraph that France may step back from Europe if she emerges as the winner.
“I want France to remain France,” he stated, “to defend its tradition, equality amongst men and women, and defend freedom and rights.”
Featured image: Gabriel Attal via X
