The relationship between France and Germany, two key players in the European Union, “works very well”, assured French Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurence Boone on Tuesday, while acknowledging difficulties on certain issues.
Laurence Boone was challenged in the Assembly by LR deputy Patrick Hetzel: “Between Paris and Berlin, nothing is going well. Germany is blocking major industrial projects in defense, the plane project and the project of tank. Germany is blocking arms exports at European level. It refuses the modification of the method of calculating the price of energy at European level, which would be so important for France (…). you to defend the sovereignty of France?”
“The Franco-German couple is not weakened at all, on the contrary it is working very well,” replied Ms. Boone, a few days after the postponement of an important diplomatic meeting between the two governments, interpreted as a sign of disagreements between Paris and Berlin.
The Franco-German Council of Ministers, which was to take place on Wednesday October 26, has been postponed indefinitely, and “the first reason is that we wanted a full council and that certain German ministers were not available, in particular the Minister of Foreign Affairs foreign,” Ms. Boone explained.
Defense Disagreements
However, she acknowledged that there were difficulties in certain areas, such as defence, the energy crisis in the European Union or the economy, on the eve of a visit to Paris by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “It is a question of coordinating our efforts (…) These subjects are all the more complicated since Germany is dealing with a tripartite coalition; negotiating with three parties is difficult” declared the Secretary of State .
These statements come as for several weeks nothing has been going well between the two leading European economies. European solidarity in the face of soaring energy prices, nuclear power and European armaments are subjects of tension between the two countries.
Berlin is promoting an anti-missile shield project, including an Israeli component, which 14 European countries want to join including Great Britain, the Baltic countries, the Netherlands and even Finland. Denouncing an “arms race” within the continent, Paris remains in the background and defends its own project, with Italy.
The future European combat aircraft, the SCAF, a sea serpent between the two countries, is another sticking point, with the risk that the competing British project, Tempest, will get ahead.