French President addresses European Parliament at crucial moment
ADVERTISEMENTIt was in Athens last September that Emmanuel Macron began to outline his vision for Europe.
This Tuesday the French president will be speaking before a less grandiose backdrop at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The timing and the location could hardly be more crucial - with Brexit, many see the headaches for the British government, and begin to see Brussels in a positive light.
After Trump and worries over trade, Europe is looking inwards to find strength, and the latest tensions with Russia have given new momentum to a common foreign policy - inspired by Macron.
Macron will use his Strasbourg speech to breathe new life into the "Grand March for Europe" - an initiative to advance his European ideas.
The campaign was kicked off in Brussels earlier in April.
Here's Macron's Mister Europe, Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade:
"We can see that the 21st century is a century of continental empires and that faced with Russia, the United States, China, India and tomorrow Africa we need to have a united Europe."
Macron's man on the inside is Guy Verhofstadt. He explains the need for a new political force in Europe:
"It's quite clear that we need to establish a movement at EU level which can act as an alternative to the old parties, such as the EPP and S+D, who have stifled European politics for decades."
With Brexit day one year away, and European elections soon after, it is a crucial time for Macron's EU dream to be realised.