Editor's note: The article is based on an interview with Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

French President Emmanuel Macron met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Marseille on Friday as the two allies plan how to tackle major issues such as migration ahead of an EU summit later this month.

"There is a requirement for Macron to work together with Merkel in order to tackle the internal and external problems within the EU," Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told CGTN

As Cui points out, Macron has run into difficulties within and without the EU. Internally, some countries such as Italy and Poland are not contented with merely playing a role as the "walk-on" in the EU. Thus, they attempt to challenge France and Germany's leading role in the hope of affecting a series of changes. Externally, US President Donald Trump's unilateralism poses a threat to the prosperity of Europe. It has already damaged the interests of the EU that results in the rising unemployment within EU countries.

"As a Pro-Europeanism politician, Macron has always appealed to form a more integrated Europe," said Cui. 

In his opinion, without Germany's contributions, it would be impossible to improve EU's cohesion. At the moment, however, Macron's blueprint of having a strong EU which is led by some major countries including France and Germany is being challenged by some EU members, and amongst them, Italy is undoubtedly the leader. These countries try to use migration crisis to challenge France's leading role in the EU for the sake of their own interests.

According to Cui, although the migration crisis has been eased off over the past two years, it remains a threat to the EU's inclusion. He believes that some EU countries, especially Italy, hope to capitalize on the migration issue to change the status quo of the EU, which is leading by few mainstream powers such as France and Germany. Thus, France has to resort to Germany's support to prevent the EU from being separated by the migration issue.

Apart from the internal "rebellions," US is another driving force behind the close France-Germany alliance. On May 31, US announced to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on the EU which has always been viewed as one of the major allies and major trading partners of the US. US' trade bully has negative impacts on the EU's economy, causing the rising unemployment and striking a blow to the share markets. More importantly, Trump's decision ruins the trust of EU residents towards the US. With Trump's tariffs on the EU, the US has developed an image of being unreliable and untrustworthy.

Although the trade conflicts between the US and EU peter out with the agreement they reached over trade on July 25, as Cui states that the EU has seen through the US and will never trust the Americans. Therefore, Cui points out that there is a lesson from the trade conflicts with the US that it is only through forming a more integrated EU that all members are able to contend with the global swings, not for surviving but for thriving. Besides, in Cui's opinion, as a globally influential country, France's ambition is not merely working as a follower of the US. Instead, they hope to play a larger role on the global stage. To achieve the goal, Macron needs Merkel's support.

Last but not least, Cui analyses how the current French political atmosphere affects Macron's diplomatic policy. From his point of view, Macron is struggling with boosting his popularity which has been falling apart since he became president. To save his career, he has to win the EU parliament election in 2019 in order to win the French election in 2022. In other words, the result of the EU parliament election will have an impact on his political career.

The reasons mentioned above force Macron to fall back on Merkel.

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