France takes EU reins with push for more sovereignty

French president Emmanuel Macron and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen paid tribute to a pair of leading European figures Friday as France formally took the reins of the 27-nation bloc for the next six months with big ambitions

PARIS -- French president Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to a pair of leading European figures Friday as France formally took the reins of the 27-nation bloc for the next six months with big ambitions.

Macron was accompanied by the head of the EU’s executive arm, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, at France’s famed Pantheon to honor the memories of Simone Veil and Jean Monnet.

Veil was a Holocaust survivor who repeatedly broke barriers for women in French politics and spearheaded the fight to legalize abortion, while Monnet was a founding father of the European Union.

Both Macron and von der Leyen wore masks during the visit inside the domed building, amid a wave of coronavirus cases that somewhat overshadowed the beginning of the French tenure and caused trouble for the French leader ahead of the arrival in Paris of EU officials.