To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty which seals Franco-German friendship, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz held a joint press conference this Sunday, at the end of a Franco-German Council of Ministers. A meeting which comes as the two countries multiply the differences on various subjects. Here is everything you need to remember from the joint press conference of the two leaders.
“Nothing is ruled out”, says Macron about deliveries of Leclerc tanks to Ukraine
France does not rule out delivering Leclerc heavy combat tanks to Ukraine to support it in its war against Russia, Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday alongside Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while kyiv is calling for tanks, in particular to l Germany, which holds the key to the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks by several European countries.
“As for the Leclercs, I asked the Minister of the Armed Forces to work on it. Nothing is excluded and this is indeed appreciated collectively”, declared the French president, while Olaf Scholz, questioned on the Leopards, said that “the way we have acted in the past is always closely coordinated with our friends and allies and we will continue to act according to the concrete situation”.
An “ambitious” European response to American industrial subsidies
France and Germany defined a “common line” on Sunday in favor of an “ambitious and rapid” European response to American industrial subsidies in the area of energy transition, said Emmanuel Macron. This action must be based “on simplicity, on greater visibility, on our aid systems” and “provide the right public and private financing tools”, affirmed during the press conference the French President, to the maneuver in recent months to convince European countries, and in particular Germany, to initiate a plan just as massive as that of the United States to avoid the deindustrialization of Europe.
The H2Med hydrogen pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille will be extended to Germany
The European H2Med hydrogen pipeline project, aimed at developing the use of hydrogen on the continent, will be extended from the countries of southwestern Europe to Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday during this meeting. press conference.
“We have decided to expand the H2Med project which, thanks to European funding, links Portugal, Spain and France (…), to Germany which will be a partner in this infrastructure strategy in terms of ‘hydrogen”, declared the French president on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the reconciliation treaty between Paris and Berlin.