Emmanuel Macron has been hailed as the “most pro-European” French president ever. In reality, his policies don't diverge all that much from his country’s traditional lines―and he is certainly no federalist.

Ahead of a major European Union summit on February 23, Chancellor Angela Merkel made an appeal to fellow German lawmakers to help forge a more united and powerful Europe. “The world is not waiting for us,” she warned, urging support for “European responses to pressing big challenges of our time.”

Going to bat for Europe was in part an overture to French President Emmanuel Macron. Back in late September, Macron delivered a sweeping speech on his vision for the future of the European Union, championing greater European integration and calling on Germany directly to jointly lead a major push to reform the bloc. Germany, it seems, approves.