Chancellor Friedrich Merz may be 22 years the senior of French president Emmanuel Macron but, just three months into his new job, the German leader is still good for a surprise.
Last week in the Fort de Brégançon, the French president’s summer residence, Merz flattered his host by delivering his opening remarks in fluent French.
In advance of the 25th joint cabinet meeting in the Mediterranean port of Toulon, Merz was anxious to make a point: at a time of unprecedented political challenges for Europe, Berlin and Paris speak the same political language.
It’s a while since that was the case, given Macron’s two previous German counterparts – Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz – viewed Macron variously as hyperactive and a windbag.
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French officials, meanwhile, despaired at what they called the Germans’ low-rent, low-energy approach to future-proofing the European Union.
When Macron was asked to speak at last year’s funeral of Wolfgang Schauble, Germany’s most Francophile politician, the president’s address – delivered largely in German – sounded like a eulogy to the Franco-German relationship.
After a cosy dinner, one Merz official promised change in a Franco-German relationship that “hasn’t lived up to its potential” of late. Merz was even more blunt, acknowledging in public: “We’ve managed a lot in recent years, but we have also not managed a lot – and we have to work on that.”
As for Macron, his hearty “Bienvenue” and bear hug for Merz went far beyond the call of diplomatic duty. Dinner at what his officials call the president’s summer “diplomatic fort” was a welcome break from the latest French government meltdown. And in jolly joint remarks, Macron declared the start of “a new chapter in Franco-German relations” and a “new tempo for Europe”.
Quoting the oldest and most-ignored truism of modern European politics, Macron insisted that good working relations between Berlin and Paris were “not the only – but a necessary – condition” for a functioning continent.
In a swipe at previous, unnamed German leaders, Macron praised the current Franco-German leadership duo as “perfectly designed” to give Europe fresh momentum to be “more competitive, more productive and more sovereign” – while pulling its own geopolitical weight.
From fraught trade talks to Ukraine, the two leaders have met regularly over the summer – building on a relationship that began even when Merz was still opposition leader.
On Ukraine, Macron said Berlin and Paris agree that Russia must face “maximum pressure” to agree a ceasefire, including additional sanctions on its trade partners. Yet neither leader is willing to show their hand on what their promise of “credible security guarantees” for Ukraine might entail.
Kyiv demands for more concrete assistance are likely to arise again at another round of peace talks on Thursday in Paris, set to be attended by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
In a flurry of activity in Toulon, Merz and Macron agreed with their cabinets’ eight separate strategy papers comprising 20 bilateral flagship projects, from energy and artificial intelligence to greater European data autonomy.
Both leaders have agreed to a digital summit in November to flesh out a united Franco-German front against efforts by the Trump administration to alter the EU Digital Services Act, the rule book for online platforms.
Weeks after a trade deal imposed a 15 per cent tariff on EU exports to the US, president Donald Trump last week threatened countries whose digital rules, in his administration’s view, punish American companies.
Trump is likely to look askance at a new initiative by French and German national broadcasters to counter growing worldwide propaganda and disinformation by filling the frequencies left in Europe by the withdrawal of US funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Both capitals, in a final communique, repeated regular calls to prune back bureaucracy both nationally and at EU level. In a shift for Germany, Berlin is now open to European funding for modern nuclear research reactors to push the continent’s energy transition and climate goals.
Similarly, Berlin agreed to launch a strategic dialogue between the two countries on nuclear deterrence and a “common strategic culture”, involving France’s nuclear shield.
Careful curation of the agenda in Toulon helped sustain bilateral harmony, banishing from the agenda tense topics such as plans to build a Eurofighter jet successor. Bickering between French and German aviation companies, for instance, means agreement hangs in the balance on the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which includes a new fighter jet. Further talks have been set for next month, pushing in turn the prospect of final agreement to the year-end – if at all.
Ongoing disagreement on an EU free trade deal with South American states – backed by Berlin but opposed by Paris over farmer fears – was brushed over in an aspiration for a “pragmatic EU trade agenda” with “safeguards on strategic sectors, in particular agriculture”.
Six years after Macron welcomed Vladimir Putin to his fort, offering a strategic partnership that memorably came to nothing, a visibly pleased Merz praised his host’s “clear gaze for reality and a strong will to shape it”.
“The Franco-German motor,” the German leader added carefully, “has kicked in again.”
