The throne is empty: Who will take the "lead"?

French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi are coming out to fill the gap on the European throne at a time when the era of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is coming to an end, writes the Brussels portal Politico.
While Germany is occupied with internal affairs ahead of the September elections, the Franco-Italian political duo and their allies have already worked on launching a 750 billion-euro EU COVID recovery plan and are now focused on several goals: reforming bloc spending rules, signing bilateral agreement based on the French-German model and association in joint industrial projects and judicial cooperation, writes Politico.
The portal states that the two European politicians have a lot in common, both are former investment bankers who see the bolder and faster EU as a cure for domestic difficulties, and also share pro-EU, market and centrist views.
Most importantly, they both know that it is time to act now, while Draghi's rating is high, before Germany gets a new leader and while Macron is fighting for re-election.
The Franco-Italian alliance began last summer when Macron and then-Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte advocated an ambitious plan to recover from the pandemic, and since Draghi took power earlier this year, the alliance has only strengthened.
However, there are many obstacles on the path of French-Italian domination, the thrifty northern states will certainly not support further spending and financial integration, while the central and eastern powers will continue to defy Macron's social-liberal leadership.
Moreover, just two years ago, French-Italian diplomatic relations were at the post-war level, according to the French Foreign Ministry, due to migration disputes, conflict of...