"Europe has always worked like this. The avant-garde has been pursuing ambitions and pulling others with it," the French president said on a trip to Belgium.
Speaking with students at the University of Louvain near Brussels, Macron argued that Europe should not be about the "biggest common denominator."
"The big mistake is that we always want to make decisions as a group of 28, maybe 27 tomorrow after the Brexit. This is not right, this will never work," he said.
Macron suggested EU integration should continue at two or three speeds. He cited the 19-nation euro area and the 26-state borderless Schengen zone as examples.
"I am in favour of changing the treaties. We’ve reached the point when this needs to be done and we should not be afraid. The rule is simple: naysayers should not stop the others," he stressed.
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Speaking about the issue, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said last February the union needed to simplify decision-making to stay relevant. EU's common foreign and security policy requires unanimity, while other decisions are made by a qualified majority vote.
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The French president has also called for other changes within the EU: he urged to create a European army for Europe to be able to defend itself 'independently of the US'. This stance triggered a diplomatic row with US President Donald Trump, who attributed Macron's suggestion to 'very low approval rating'.