This Wednesday’s meeting in Paris between Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz resulted in a “friendly” and “constructive” dialogue, the two parties announced, at a time when the relationship between the two countries is weighed down by a multiplication of disagreements.
This meeting, which lasted three hours and ended with a face-to-face meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, made it possible to discuss “the perspectives towards which Europe wants and should go” and should lead these coming weeks to “very good and very intense cooperation” said a German diplomatic source. For its part, the French presidency also welcomed a “very constructive” exchange, during which the two leaders “discussed the Franco-German relationship in a spirit of very close work in the medium and long term.”
In this meeting, the two leaders agreed in particular that the European Union is facing “one of the most important crises in its history”, which led them to mention, among other things, the issues of “security and defense”, question “energy with a look at high energy prices and supply” or even innovation, the German diplomatic source stressed.
These three issues are sources of tension between the two capitals, Paris and Berlin do not have the same ideas about the means to fight against rising energy prices, for example. “On these three issues, working groups have been established that will lead the two governments to work closely in the coming days for the next steps,” the Elysee said.
many disagreements
The two leaders also agreed to exchange “before and after” of an upcoming visit to China by the German chancellor and a trip to the United States by the French president. However, the meeting did not lead to any joint statement from the leaders, who took a long time to appear in front of the objectives in the Elysée courtyard.
On the strategy to adopt in the face of rising energy prices, nuclear energy, European weapons, disagreements have multiplied in recent weeks between Paris and Berlin. Something to worry about in Europe, where the Franco-German engine is still a great engine. The disputes, in particular over various common industrial projects, from the fighter jet to the tank of the future, have escalated since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Source: BFM TV
