Editor's Note: This assessment is part of a series of analyses supporting Stratfor's 2020 Annual Forecast. These assessments are designed to provide more context and in-depth analysis on key developments over the next quarter and throughout the year. In May 2017, Emmanuel Macron became the president of France; two-and-a-half years on, he has the opportunity to become the effective leader of the European Union. Indeed, France stands on the cusp of a greater role in the bloc as other movers and shakers deal with their own issues: Germany, which has been the European Union's de facto leader for at least a decade, is now too focused on domestic issues to direct the Continent, while the United Kingdom, Europe's second-largest economy, is on its way out of the union. What's more, the French economy is growing at a decent pace, giving Paris the legitimacy it lacked in the past.