Berlin, Paris Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is standing in an annex of the Élysée Palace in Paris and is talking about the many similarities between Germany and France. The Federal Foreign Minister has just attended a meeting of the French cabinet, and the topics discussed there reminded her of the domestic ministerial round in Berlin.
Baerbock struck an almost exuberant tone in Paris on Wednesday: “France is our best friend.” The previous evening she had already exchanged views with the host in the Élysée Palace. After the meeting, President Emmanuel Macron announced that the visit would open a “new chapter in Franco-German relations”.
Baerbock’s visit is just the start of a new harmony offensive, with which Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) want to revive the long-standing crisis in Franco-German relations. “You can tell things are bad when Paris and Berlin emphasize the symbolism,” says Charles Grant, director of the think tank Center for European Reform.
The next steps are closely timed and symbolic: Scholz receives Macron on June 6th at his place of residence in Potsdam. From July 2nd to 4th, Macron will be on a state visit to Germany at the invitation of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The trip is the first state visit by a French head of state – with the highest official honors – in 23 years. Previously, there were working visits to Germany, where heads of government or heads of state came to Berlin at the invitation of the Federal Chancellor and not the Federal President. Now Macron’s trip should lead to several regions of the Federal Republic.
A joint closed-door meeting of the two governments is planned for the autumn, which is intended to contrast with the stiff meeting environment of the previous German-French councils of ministers. All of these meetings are intended to improve the strained relationship between the two countries – and improve the relationships between Macron and Scholz, which are considered to be supercooled.
Built-up conflicts were revealed
The short-term cancellation of the Franco-German Council of Ministers in October 2022 revealed the months of pent-up conflicts on key issues. The anger over the construction of the German energy defense shield, with which Scholz surprised the French, was just one example. At the height of the crisis, Macron even warned the chancellor against “isolating” the Federal Republic in the EU in front of the cameras.
In Berlin, Macron’s trip to China in mid-April was followed with a certain horror.
(Photo: AP)
Everything was supposed to get better for the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty this January, and the Council of Ministers was held at the same time as the celebrations in Paris. But even after the big ceremony, new conflicts quickly arose. Just a few weeks after the anniversary, Germany and France clashed over the question of what role nuclear power should play in the energy transition in the EU. In French government circles, the Germans were accused of breaching the agreements made by the Council of Ministers.
In Berlin, on the other hand, Macron’s trip to China in mid-April was followed with a certain horror. Even Francophile German foreign policymakers took offense at the President’s statement that Europe should not be allowed to follow the United States on the Taiwan question. It was understood as if the EU should keep a kind of equidistance with the USA and China.
The reform of European debt rules also harbors potential for conflict. Instead of uniform guidelines, the EU Commission is using individual methods for each member state to reduce debt and deficits in the long term. While France supports the proposals, they go too far for the federal government.
>> Read also: Paris rejects criticism of Macron’s China statements
Meanwhile, the federal government is countering the impression that the Franco-German team building at ministerial level planned for autumn is the result of serious relationship problems. Details of the new format of the ministerial meetings are not yet known. In Berlin, the format is described as a meeting where “you don’t just sit together in one room from morning to night, but there may also be some relaxed elements where you can exchange ideas informally but still in a trusting manner.”
Respect in Berlin for Macron’s will to reform
In German government circles, it is said that despite all differences of opinion, you know what you have in Macron. The success of the European project is “without a doubt an absolute matter close to his heart”. Macron is also shown respect in Berlin as he tries to reform his country against great resistance.
Scholz wants to receive Macron in Potsdam on June 6th.
(Photo: IMAGO/Starface)
Éric-André Martin, Germany expert at the Paris think tank Institut français des relations Internationales (Ifri), says: “I think that everyone has now understood that open conflicts between Germany and France cannot be afforded in these times.” The planned German -French meetings in the coming months would signal the will to develop and promote a “positive agenda” for the EU.
It’s good that Berlin and Paris are looking for new ways to breathe new life into the exchange between the two governments, said SPD foreign policy expert Michael Roth, who was the federal government’s commissioner for Franco-German cooperation from 2014 to 2021. From his own experience he knows “that the heavily over-formalized framework of the Council of Ministers leaves no room for an open exchange of content”.
However, from Roth’s point of view, the times when France and Germany could set the pace in Europe are over. Berlin and Paris would have to take the interests of the Central and Eastern European EU states into account more. “The old formula that a Franco-German compromise is automatically an acceptable pan-European compromise no longer applies in the EU,” he said.
>> Read here: Scholz is not that far away from Macron
The weights in the EU have increasingly shifted to the east. “And Germany and France have to regain credibility through some mistakes in the past.”
More: How Germany and France want to save their friendship.