In a text published by the magazine Le Grand Continent, Édouard Philippe outlines a program around the idea of ”integral sovereignty”.
Presidential candidate Édouard Philippe (Horizons) develops on Thursday the principle of “integral sovereignty” which he intends to bring to the European level, based on four pillars: technology, defense, energy and finance.
“Energy, technology, defense and finance now form a single system. The power plants feed the data centers. The data centers train the artificial intelligence models. The models drive the military systems. The financial markets finance the whole thing,” writes the former Prime Minister of Emmanuel Macron in a long text published in the magazine Grand Continent on the occasion of the 86th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s June 18 Appeal.
“To give up on one of these links is to weaken all the others”, he adds, promising if he is elected to the Élysée in 2027 “to send a message to all Europeans: let us refuse decline and organize ourselves to preserve our freedom”.
“Europe must without delay concentrate its resources on these four vital policies or it will be defeated”, he warns, “all its budgetary, regulatory and industrial decisions must now be read in this light”.
The former Prime Minister calls for “first putting our house in order” and “finally carrying out the reforms that many European states have carried out for several decades”. In particular, the limitation of the public deficit to the equivalent of 3% of gross domestic product, while it has increased since the Covid crisis in 2020 and reached 5.1% in 2025, and the “reorientation of spending towards schools, research, defense, justice and security”.
Sovereign computing capabilities
Concerning tech, he defends the establishment of a “Buy European Tech Act”, advocating “a majority share of European solutions in critical public orders”. He also wants “sovereign computing capacities accessible to European companies and laboratories” or even “the emergence of at least one world-class European champion in advanced semiconductors”. “On energy, France will propose a European pact of carbon-free abundance”, based on “the growth of the nuclear fleet at European level”.
Concerning defense, he plans as a priority to propose to Europe “to extend European preference in equipment purchases”.
“On June 18, 1940, General de Gaulle called on free France to resist defeat. The challenge for today’s Europeans is to resist resignation,” says Mr. Philippe.
“France does not ask others what it refuses to do for itself. I will assume in front of our allies that we will be more useful by being stronger. I will affirm in front of our adversaries that they will have to reckon with Europe and learn to respect it. Because we Europeans have every intention of remaining free,” he concludes.
