Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will visit German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday, concluding a week of intense high-level discussions to boost relations between the two countries.
On Friday, Borne will visit Berlin in a bid to strengthen the Franco-German relationship, the prime minister’s office told EURACTIV.
“With the prime minister’s visit to Berlin on Friday, we are fully in line with the impetus given by the President of the Republic and the German Chancellor on 26 October”.
“Both countries are eager to strengthen and “relaunch Franco-German relations on all subjects,” it added.
These comments come amid rumours that the Franco-German Council of Ministers was postponed due to strong disagreements between the French presidency and the German chancellery on issues like soaring energy prices, nuclear and European defence matters.
But the joint meeting was postponed because “there was a desire to go deeper and to have more deliverables” for it, the French prime minister’s office confirmed.
“This visit is taking place in a context […] in which our two countries have a very strong responsibility, a historical responsibility”, the prime minister’s office added, citing the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.
On Monday, French and German ministers held talks with their respective counterparts, sending a message of unity by way of Foreign Minister Catherine Colona and her German counterpart Annalena Barerbock.
“There is a Franco-German couple, a Franco-German engine, Franco-German relations, whatever you want to call it,” said Colonna, while Baerbock highlighted the importance of “Germany and France setting a common pace when it is needed.”
According to the French prime minister’s office, good relations between France and Germany are essential for the European Union’s ability to face today’s numerous challenges.
“We need an in-depth bilateral dialogue on all subjects of interest to our fellow citizens, but also a dialogue that allows us to prepare all the major European deadlines, since working together as Franco-Germans is absolutely essential in order to pave the way for European compromises, ” the French prime minister’s office also said.
(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
