It has been almost a year since Olaf Scholz introduced himself to French President Emmanuel Macron as the new Federal Chancellor in the Elysée Palace in Paris. At that time, all things considered, Franco-German relations were still going quite well.
Scholz assured that he wanted to work together with Macron for a strong Europe. And Macron wanted a similarly good interaction with Scholz as with his predecessor Angela Merkel. “We have manifested the will to work together,” said the French President, summing up the outcome of the first meeting with the newcomer from Berlin.
There is not much left of this will today. At the beginning of last week, a meeting of the two governments in Fontainebleau near Paris was postponed indefinitely – a very unusual step for such close partners. The differences in important areas such as energy and defense were too great. The German side also claimed scheduling problems, which did not improve matters. The media reported that the meeting had collided with vacation plans for several German cabinet members for the autumn holidays.
Macron warns of German isolation in Europe
Then Macron caused a sensation at the EU summit in Brussels with his warning of German isolation in Europe. What was meant was the German resistance to a European gas price cap in combination with the Chancellor’s “double boom” to cushion the high energy costs. Some EU countries – including France – see this as a risk of distorting competition. Scholz, on the other hand, believes that France and many other countries are no different.
The chancellor is traveling to Paris alone today – without his ministers. Macron receives him there for a meal that should at least calm things down a bit. In addition to the dispute over how to deal with the energy crisis, there are other controversial issues.
Problems with joint armaments projects
There is a particular problem with defense policy. In view of the war in Ukraine, both countries want to strengthen European defenses, but joint armament projects such as the development of the new FCAS combat aircraft are not making any real progress. And while Germany wants to build a better European air defense system with 14 other countries, France is staying out, reportedly worried about a possible arms race. The reason for the French reluctance could also be that the defense system could come from Israel or the USA – and the French-Italian system Mamba is left out.
The Elysée Palace should not have gone unnoticed that Scholz did not particularly emphasize the importance of Franco-German relations for Europe in his keynote speech in Prague a few weeks ago. In his most recent European policy speech at the Congress of European Social Democrats in Berlin, he no longer mentioned France at all.
But Macron doesn’t always take the Franco-German vote too seriously. After Merkel’s departure, he can now distinguish himself as the more experienced player alongside newcomer Scholz at the top of Europe. And the European stage offered the domestically weakened liberals a rather grateful stage, despite all the disputes. For example, he pushed ahead alone with the idea of the European Political Community instead of presenting the proposal, which Berlin later supported, together with Scholz.
Merz sees responsibility at Scholz
CDU leader Friedrich Merz nevertheless clearly sees the blame for the Franco-German relationship crisis on the federal government. “The Chancellor must use this trip to get the Franco-German engine running again,” the opposition leader demanded in the Augsburger Allgemeine.
Scholz naturally sees things differently. Even after last week’s memorable EU summit in Brussels, he described Franco-German cooperation as “very intensive”. And the Elyseé Palace also tried to calm things down after the postponement of the date for the Franco-German Council of Ministers. “None of this says anything about the status of Franco-German relations,” it said. The Franco-German Council of Ministers should now be held in January if possible.
