Franziska Brantner, 43, is State Secretary to German Economics Minister Robert Habeck. Member of the Bundestag since 2013, elected from the constituency of Heidelberg (Baden-Württemberg), this member of the Greens is one of the German political figures most committed to rapprochement with France.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Franco-German relations have been going through a complicated phase. What do you expect from the state visit that Emmanuel Macron will make from Sunday July 2 to Tuesday July 4?
A real purely Franco-German meeting is important to remember what our relationship is so precious with regard to our history, to maintain a mutual interest and to get to know each other better. We have a common and very important goal: to make our economies more resilient, fairer and less destructive of our planet. The goal is to find the maximum of convergences from situations that can often be quite different.
Let’s look for a moment at the notion of a common industrial policy: three or four years ago, it was a total taboo in Germany. This is no longer the case, as shown by the joint projects that our two countries have launched, for example on electric batteries or hydrogen. Today we are also convinced in Paris and Berlin that we need our own industrial champions, that we must get rid of our toxic dependencies on countries like China and that we must assert ourselves in the face of our major partners. From this point of view, the trip to Washington in February of our two economy ministers, Robert Habeck and Bruno Le Maire, is a strong gesture marking the desire to find a common European response to the Inflation Reduction Act put in place by the United States.
Another project: the future of the European Union, for example. Until very recently, France was much more reluctant than Germany to enlarge the Union to the Western Balkans. This is no longer the case today. Finally, let us remember that Emmanuel Macron, at the end of 2019, had declared NATO in a state of ” brain death “, which was misunderstood in Germany, where the Atlantic Alliance is considered essential to guarantee our security. Today, the French president says he is in favor of Ukraine’s entry into NATO. That’s one hell of a development!
But is this an example of convergence? On this point, Germany seems more reluctant…
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