France - Germany: interview with Anna Lührmann, Minister for European Affairs and Climate Change

Germany shares with France the goal to strengthen European sovereignty. As Chancellor Scholz recalled in Prag a year ago, we have to become more sovereign in all fields, assume greater responsibility for our own security, work closer together and stand even more united in defense of our values and interests around the world. Economic sovereignty does not mean self-sufficiency, but a stronger European cooperation and investments in environmental and digital transformation.

Our partnership is strong. It relies on a very sound system of exchanges and trust which was built over the last 60 years and which, precisely when disagreements may arise, proves to be very valuable. With the climate crisis and the return of war to Europe, France and Germany - the entire European continent - face huge challenges. These events shake many certainties on which our societies rest. It does not shake one certainty, however: that we can rely on France as our closest partner and best friend. Just recently, for instance, we saw long awaited convergences, especially in the field of European industry or EU Enlargement policy.

Our two countries agree in most areas. It is true, though, that we differ when it comes to the role of nuclear power in the EU's energy mix, but let me emphasize that both France and Germany also agree on the need to accelerate the construction of renewable energies, and that both countries made very quick progress in that regard over the past years. In Germany last year, half of the electricity was produced from renewable energies!

Germany will keep on contributing constructively to this discussion. I am confident that we will make progress and find appropriate answers.

On the contrary. In our new National Security Strategy, we make clear that Germany’s security is indivisible from that of our partners and allies. We commit to allocate two percent of our GDP, as an average over a multi-year period, to reaching NATO capability goals, initially in part via the newly created special fund for the Bundeswehr. This is perfectly in line with the French stance on the importance of increased defense spending.

The Aachen Treaty puts forward more than three concrete initiatives, such as the participation of a minister in the Council of ministers of the other country, like Minister Baerbock did in Paris in May, or the creation of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly which significantly enhances the bilateral exchange at the parliamentarian level, as shown by the last meeting in May. At the Franco-German Council of ministers in January this year, we also decided to organize broader cabinet retreats, and Germany will host the first retreat this autumn.

The launch of the French-German Train Ticket at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty was a great initiative in that respect. We are also very committed to the implementation of our respective Language Strategies. And thanks to the Franco-German Citizen Fund, another initiative of the Aachen Treaty, we plan on investing a budget of 5 million euros this year to enable the financial support of citizens´ initiatives which create encounters between our societies, with a strong focus on organizations or people not yet active in the sphere of Franco-German relations.

Copyright Image : JOHN THYS / AFP

Germany's Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, Anna Lührmann, makes a statement on her arrival at the General Affairs Council (GAC) at the EU's headquarters in Brussels on 14 December 2021.