Macron needs to move fast to reform France and keep credibility, says top EU commissioner

Etienne Laurent | Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron walks through the Galerie des Bustes (Busts Gallery) to access the Versailles Palace’s hemicycle for a special congress gathering both houses of parliament (National Assembly and Senate), near Paris, France, July 3, 2017.

France’s brand new President Emmanuel Macron needs to move quickly to change the country, according to a top-ranking member of the European Commission.

The advice, from Jyrki Katainen the vice president for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, comes as Macron suffered his first setback this week since taking office.

“As former prime minister of Finland I can only say that the faster you make all the reforms you plan to do, the better, because the rest of the election term is the time you’re starting bearing fruit of all those reforms,” Katainen told CNBC in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.