It was about putting an end to months of disagreements and misunderstandings. Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz displayed, Sunday, January 22, in Paris, the rediscovered unity of the Franco-German tandem, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. The French president assured that this ” couple “ would do “the choice of the future”as he has “know how to do it at every turn of the European construction”. “Germany and France, because they have cleared the path to reconciliation, must become pioneers for the rebuilding of our Europe”, he said Sunday morning in a deliberately lyrical speech at the Sorbonne. He described neighboring states as “two souls in one chest”.
“The future, like the past, depends on the cooperation of our two countries (…) as the locomotive of a united Europe”two countries capable of exceeding their “differences”abounded, for his part, the German Chancellor, evoking a “fraternal couple”. He spun the metaphor of this “Franco-German engine”, who often “purrs softly”who “do not walk with flattery” but by the “firm desire to always transform controversies” in “convergent action”.
In October 2022, this annual meeting had to be postponed due to disagreements on a series of key subjects, from energy to defence, which came to light in the wake of the war led by Russia in Ukraine. A scent of misunderstanding has floated between the two leaders since Olaf Scholz succeeded Angela Merkel at the end of 2021, each annoyed by the initiatives taken by the other without prior consultation.
“Nothing is excluded”
The date of the reunion is very symbolic: sixty years to the day, after the signing of the Elysée Treaty by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, this “founding act” of the “reconciliation” between two countries “who had been the bitterest enemies” but “decided to become the closest allies”, said Emmanuel Macron. Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron affirmed with one voice the objective, dear to the French president, of a more “sovereign”which would invest more in defense and industry.
At the end of their talks, the President and the Chancellor were questioned by the press on Sunday evening about the possible dispatch of heavy tanks to kyiv, while Berlin is the subject of increasing pressure from its European partners. Olaf Scholz repeated that he wanted a collective decision. “As for the [chars français] Leclerc, I asked the Minister of the Armed Forces to work on it. Nothing is excluded and this is indeed appreciated collectively”, replied Emmanuel Macron. In a joint statement released after a Franco-German Council of Ministers, Paris and Berlin also pledge to support Ukraine ” as long as ” than necessary.
Like the deputy of the presidential party Benjamin Haddad, voices are raised in Paris for France to be ” on the initiative “ by sending a “limited number of Leclerc tanks to create momentum”.
France also warns against a ” de-industrialization “ if the European Union does not respond vigorously, with significant funding, to the massive US renewable energy subsidy plan, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). According to the Head of State, France and Germany defined on Sunday a “common line” in favor of a European response “ambitious and fast”. This action should be based “on simplicity, on greater visibility, on our support systems” and “provide the right public and private financing tools”continued Emmanuel Macron.
With regard to the energy aspect of the discussions, he announced that the European H2Med hydrogen pipeline project, aimed at developing the use of hydrogen on the continent, would be extended from the countries of South-West Europe to the ‘Germany ” who will be a partner in this infrastructure strategy”.