“Speech in a lyrical spirit, beautiful images, a joint declaration full of good intentions, but without a real cut on topical issues. A joint meeting of the governments of France and Germany, 60 years after the signing of a friendship treaty between the two countries, gave birth to nothing but a mouse. With these words, the French Le Monde summed up the results of the Franco-German summit held on Sunday in Paris on the occasion of the completion of the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the historic Élysée Treaty by the then leaders of the two countries, Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.

Greenhouse initiatives with a strong influence on the course of the EU In recent decades, Franco-German meetings have been overshadowed by the growing disagreements between the two strongest powers of the Union. Yesterday’s summit was originally scheduled for October 2022, but was postponed due to serious disagreements on key areas of defense and energy.

In the field of impressions, the busy Sunday schedule turned out to be productive. Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Soltz addressed 300 parliamentarians of the two countries at the Sorbonne, after which a joint meeting of the two cabinets of ministers took place at the Elysee Palace.

In the released joint declaration, Paris and Berlin commit to work towards “strengthening European sovereignty” in all areas, but the specific plans described (building a pan-European battle tank, cooperation in space, production of energy storage and a hydrogen economy) are far from the declared ambitions, especially from France.

Despite their warm feelings, “dear Emanuel” and “dear Olaf” at their joint press conference failed to create the widespread impression that their fundamental differences had not been overcome in the slightest.

Macron and Soltz sing hymns to “strengthen European sovereignty,” but their differences in energy and defense are great.

On the energy side, the German chancellor was again wary of the French president’s proposal to reform the European energy market and supported the fall in natural gas prices during this period. For his part, Macron remains opposed to a gas pipeline plan that would cross the Pyrenees and reach Germany, favoring an underwater pipeline in the Mediterranean that would connect Spain to France instead. On Sunday it was announced that the pipeline in question could be extended to Germany.

Emmanuel Macron’s proposal for a pan-European fund to support investment in industry, especially in clean energy, stalled, and the idea has so far been coldly received in Berlin.

In addition, the plan for a new generation European fighter is still hovering in thick fog, as Germany, in the context of the defense modernization it is promoting against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, has turned to American F-35s, in preference to the French Rafales.

In a joint statement, France and Germany advocate a European perspective for the Western Balkans, while emphasizing the need to resolve existing differences, primarily between Serbia and Kosovo. In view of the possible new expansion of the Union, the two countries emphasize that its smooth operation requires major changes in European institutions, putting the abolition of unanimity on foreign policy and taxation in the first place.

Finally, Paris and Berlin reiterated their opposition to the US national production stimulus law, which threatens to lead to a trade war with the EU. with the United States, but without specifying how they intend to deal with American protectionism.