Nothing is going well between Germany and France. While it was to be held on October 26 in the golden setting of the Château de Fontainebleau, the next bilateral council bringing together Franco-German ministers has been postponed until next year. And, this, without knowing if it will take place in January, at the very moment when the emblematic friendship treaty of the Elysée, signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
Proof that the differences are at their height, Emmanuel Macron declared this Thursday, just before the opening of a European summit, that it “is not good for Germany or for Europe that it isolated”. Usually, this kind of talk is held in a closed room, far from the microphones… “We have a lot of work ahead of us”, also said the French president. Before pointing out a structural problem: “It’s always better to consult, to coordinate”.
In fact, Berlin has lately shown more disdain than love for Paris. “Germany announced a support plan for its economy of 200 billion euros, without warning France and its other European partners, who felt jostled”, regrets Franck Baasner, director of the Franco-German Institute. The measure was all the more displeasing to the Elysée that Emmanuel Macron pleads for a community response to the current energy crisis, with, in particular, a cap on gas import prices. Except that Berlin rejects it and criticizes the French refusal, until now, of a Catalan gas pipeline to increase the continental possibilities of distribution of LNG delivered in Spain.
One dissension among others… Paris also had a hard time with the launch by Olaf Scholz of an anti-aircraft shield project bringing together 14 European members of NATO and piloted by Germany, while a Franco- latest generation Italian, the MAMBA, is available. This is in addition to the fund of 100 billion euros set up by Berlin to buy mainly American equipment, contrary to the French vision of European defense. As for the joint development projects for the tank (MGCS) and aircraft (SCAF) of the future, they are at a standstill, awaiting a political unblocking which is not forthcoming.
it Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, in Brussels, December 17, 2021.
afp.com/JOHN THYS
These difficulties in cooperating may seem all the more surprising since there is no shortage of channels between the two capitals for cooperating. “But if we see each other all the time, we don’t really talk to each other, notes Frank Baasner. In Olaf Scholz’s entourage, there is a lack of a Franco-German reflex, which we still had under Angela Merkel, where the “We always tried to have France in mind. When the Chancellor made his big political speech on Europe, in Prague, he didn’t mention France…”
However, when Paris and Berlin no longer manage to get along, history has shown that Europe is paralyzed. In 2000, already, the two capitals had gone through a major crisis of confidence. Their deep differences on subjects such as the reform of European institutions or the common agricultural policy were brought to light during a summit in Nice.
“This crisis had led to a positive reaction with the rapid implementation of the Blaesheim process, named after this Alsatian village where President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had begun to speak to each other more directly, in a very small committee, recalls Frank Baasner. It’s a format that has fallen asleep over the years, but could find its usefulness again.” The resumption of dialogue could also begin next Wednesday, with the visit to Paris of Chancellor Scholz. And a beginning of a way out of the crisis?
Clement Daniez