Elysee sources confirm leaders held a “very constructive” meeting and decided to set up working groups on energy, defense and innovation
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attempted this Wednesday in Paris to restart the European Union’s Franco-German engine, gripped by the underlying differences between the two neighboring countries in defense and energy policies. . The Franco-German tandem, considered the engine of the European Union, is going through a difficult time, ten months after Scholz’s arrival at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the middle of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis in Europe.
Paris and Berlin have postponed the Franco-German Council of Ministers, which was to be held today at the Château de Fontainebleau, southeast of Paris. Officially, the Elysee and the State Department claimed that there were problems with the ministers’ agendas and that they needed more time to reach agreement on the defense and energy files.
Macron finally received Scholz in Paris for a working lunch today. For the cameras, it was all smiles and handshakes, although there is little chemistry between the two leaders. They made no statements to the press, as is customary in these bilateral meetings. Elysee sources limited themselves to pointing out that Macron and Scholz had a “very constructive” meeting and that they decided to set up working groups on energy, defense and innovation.
Scholz described the conversation with Macron on Twitter as “good and important” and explained that they were talking about “European energy supply, rising prices and common weapons projects”. “France and Germany remain very close and overcome challenges together,” the chancellor tweeted, trying to downplay the fact that the Franco-German engine is still damaged.
Source: La Verdad
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