Ljubilees are generally an object of rejoicing. However, the 60e anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, which sealed, on January 22, 1963, Franco-German reconciliation before becoming the symbol of the advent of the Franco-German couple in Europe, will be as much a celebration as an attempt to put the pieces back together , after one annus horribilis 2022 which saw the relationship tested like never before. Witness the cancellation of the Franco-German Council of Ministers scheduled for the fall, an unprecedented act which will finally be the subject of a catch-up session to celebrate the jubilee of the treaty with dignity.
This is not the first time that relations in the Franco-German couple have become strained. The fiftieth anniversary of the treaty, in January 2013, had also been tarnished by strong tensions, the Germans reproaching François Hollande for his budgetary laxity, while Paris criticized the Merkel government’s lack of enthusiasm in supporting France’s action in the mali. Similarly, the sources of tension today do not date from 2022: exchanges between Paris and Berlin have long stalled on energy, due to diametrically opposed choices on nuclear power (and its status as clean energy or not) , and the two capitals also have different approaches to their arms industry, and to the place of the Atlantic Alliance in European defence.
The crisis had been brewing for several years, but it could not have reached the level of November 2022 without the war in Ukraine. The attack on Moscow sounded like a collective failure for a Franco-German couple who had bet on the good faith of Vladimir Putin. The failure was also individual, insofar as the war showed the extent to which Eastern and Northern European critics of Franco-German appeasement policies had been right, whether in the choice the diplomatic opening with Russia by Emmanuel Macron in 2019-2021 or that of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project by Germany.
No serious alternative
Faced with the open (and moral) challenge in their leadership of Europe, the French and Germans responded in dispersed order: Paris was able to take advantage of this to clearly take European leadership in terms of delivering arms to Ukraine, even if the message sent is sometimes blurred by a few unwelcome declarations on France’s position in the conflict. But it is above all in Berlin, whose Zeitenwende [« tournant », en allemand] was for the political class as much an awareness as a panic, that unilateralism was displayed in broad daylight, whether on the relationship with Central Europe, energy or even armaments. Each time, Berlin took Paris on the wrong foot and ignored our own interests, hence the current crisis.
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