Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron announced the inclusion of the German country in this project at the bilateral summit held today in Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in Paris this afternoon that Germany is joining the H2Med pipeline project, the corridor that will enable the transportation of hydrogen from Portugal to France via Spain.
“We have decided to expand the H2Med project which, thanks to European funding, connects Portugal, Spain and France with Germany, which will be a partner in this hydrogen infrastructure strategy,” Macron announced at a joint press conference at the end of the French German Council of Ministers held in Paris, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty.
Scholz describes the European hydrogen corridor as an “excellent project for the future”. “We need hydrogen and it is much easier to move from port to port via the Mediterranean. Now we are expanding (H2Med) to our German friends,” explains Macron.
Promoted by the governments of Spain, Portugal and France, the H2Med initially included two cross-border infrastructures, one between Celorico da Beira (Portugal) and Zamora, and another underwater between the ports of Barcelona and Marseille (France). But now it will have to be expanded to Eastern Europe so that the hydrogen can reach Germany.
This ambitious project replaces the MidCat, the gas pipeline between Spain and France through the Pyrenees that Macron rejected, saying it was more difficult to implement and did not solve the current energy crisis Europe is experiencing due to the war in Ukraine.
The fact that Germany is joining H2Med is a strong confirmation of a project chosen by the Spanish President, Pedro Sánchez. «Germany joins H2Med together with France, Portugal and Spain. Following the Barcelona treaty, the green corridor has definitively strengthened its pan-European dimension. A new Iberian solution, and there are already two, in favor of European energy sovereignty,” Sánchez said on Twitter.
Scholz and Macron celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty with their ministers in Paris. This treaty, signed on January 22, 1963 by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and President Charles de Gaulle, sealed the reconciliation of France and Germany after World War II.
The two European leaders promised that the Franco-German axis will remain the engine of the European Union, as it has been until now. “Germany and France, as they have paved the way for reconciliation, must become pioneers together for the re-establishment of our Europe,” Macron added in a speech at the amphitheater of the Sorbonne.
The two leaders declared that the tensions between Berlin and Paris in recent months, which had led to the suspension of the Franco-German cabinet meeting scheduled for October, were over. Officially because of agenda problems between the ministers, but in reality because of their substantive differences of opinion on defense and energy policy in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Scholz promised that Paris and Berlin will “continue to give all support to Ukraine as long as it is necessary”. “Together, as Europeans, to defend our European peace project,” added Scholz. Macron reiterated France and Germany’s “unwavering support” for Ukraine. “After February 24 (2022, the date of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine), our union has not been divided or evaded its responsibilities,” the French head of state stressed.
Scholz is under pressure from his European allies to allow Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Kiev so that the Ukrainians can better defend themselves against Russian attacks. A few days ago, the Secretary of State was open to supplying or re-exporting Leopard tanks to Kiev, if the United States does so with its Abrams tanks. For his part, Macron said he would not rule out the shipment of Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.
Source: La Verdad
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