On the night of Thursday to Friday in Brussels, the German chancellor showed her willingness to reduce tensions between them. Olaf Soltz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

“Cooperation between Germany and France, as well as between the Chancellor and the President, is intense and fruitful,” the head of the German government assured after the first day of the summit and finally reached an agreement on a roadmap to reduce energy prices in Europe.

Asked about tensions with the French head of state, who on Thursday multiplied his insinuations and warned of a possible German isolation in the EU, Mr Scholz recalled that they are “always” talking and have already set a new appointment for Wednesday in Paris.

However, according to APE-MPE, next week’s meeting will simply replace the joint Franco-German cabinet, which was postponed due to disagreements over several files.

The chancellor assured that he “in no way” felt isolated from his partners in the long and tense negotiations on the energy issue.

Tête-à-tête that led to a draw

Despite seemingly diametrically opposed positions being expressed in the European Council, last night the two leaders met for a half-hour four by four meeting without their advisers present, and then met again with the remaining 25 leaders.

The meeting “cleared up a lot of things” and “secured Germany’s agreement” on the final text of the conclusions, Macron told the press, believing France had played its “role” in promoting “unity” in the EU.

“We don’t always have the same positions,” but “that’s normal,” he added, as if trying to downplay the differences that were noted by the French side before and during the summit.

What was said about the agreement reached at the Summit

Regarding the energy agreement, the French president noted that the leaders had achieved their dual goal of “preserving European unity and lowering gas prices.”

He added that the leaders had given the European Commission a “clear mandate” to start working on capping gas prices and a European solidarity mechanism to help citizens. He predicted that the proposals would be implemented in late October or early November.

For his part, Olaf Soltz was cautious, saying the leaders had “set precise benchmarks” on contentious energy issues such as capping gas prices, which will now be discussed by energy ministers in the coming weeks.