France wants to yoke German power to another French effort at gaining a European empire.
I've noted the difference between geographic Europe and political Europe. The former is a collection of independent countries. The latter is a EU super state on its way to being an imperial state that crushes national identity and power.
I believe the second way forward is a strong and political Europe. Why ? Because I do not believe that Europe waters down France’s voice: France has its outlook, its history, its view of international affairs, but it builds much more useful and stronger action when it does so through Europe.
Allow me to translate: Macron wants to remain France while it uses Germany as the muscle to control all of Europe, confident that France can direct the Germans who claim to fear their Nazi past too much to build military power of their own or to wield political power on their own.
Mind you, this isn't some conspiracy. Uniting Europe is the point of the EU project. France and Germany are the two states pushing the EU unification the hardest. Germany is thus far unwilling to use its economic and financial power to build military-based hard power. The EU wants to replace NATO as the basis of European defense, which has the effect of crippling American influence in Europe, which is historically not the most democratic of places. And the EU institutionally dislikes democracy or national identities.
This adds up to an eventual EU imperial state. Which France assumes it can lead.
Nice work if you can get it.
