Day of Franco-German friendship on January 22nd

There are three annual political holidays that I try not to miss. May 9th, the Day of Europe. July 14th, the French national holiday. Yes, I am German and comfortable with it, but October 3rd doesn't spark a lot of patriotic emotions with me (in contrast to the football worldcup which definitely does). July 14th with its fireworks around the Eiffel Tower is certainly a more memorable event. The third holiday is the day of Franco-German friendship on January 22nd.

I am reminded of the former two holidays by the media, but I always miss January 22nd. Was I not paying attention, or were the media not paying attention?
Well, I admit, I forgot it. However, what speaks in favor of me is that all self-proclaimed Franco-German blogs on the web including Vasistas, l'Europe en blogs, Le Blog Franco-Allemand, Le Franco-Allemand, Deuxzero, deutsch-franzosisch, Frankreich heute, Bernard de Montferrand, Scharlotte en France, Komische Petite française, Berlin & Co, Le Blogueur and the Franco-German couple blogging at Fenris et Fionan also forgot it.

Does the holiday have such a low importance that nobody cares to remember it? No! Praise goes to Das Frankreich-Blog - France Blog, which extensively covered the Franco-German Day. And on a political level, Germany and France celebrated as well. Secretaries of State Werner Hoyer and Laurent Wauqiez met in Paris on Tuesday, January 25 for a working lunch, followed by a visit to a French kindergarten and a debate at the French elite university Sciences Po. Foreign Ministers Guido Westerwelle and Michèle Alliot-Marie (sadly, Bernard Kouchner has eventually been shuffled out of the cabinet by Sarkozy) had already published a joint declaration on January 22nd. They affirm their commitment to the Franco-German Agenda 2020 and Germany declares its support to the French G20 presidency. In schools and public institutions in France and Germany, the Franco-German Day was celebrated as well.

Next year, I promise not to miss this holiday. And I hope to celebrate it in an adequate fashion as well.


By the way, if you are a young German or French professional, you can apply for a Franco-German future dialogue organized by DGAP and IFRI. However, the deadline for applications is today, Monday January 31st.
If you are interested in a one-year postgraduate Franco-German Master of European Governance in Paris, Strasbourg, Potsdam and Berlin, you can still apply until May 15th.

Franco-German friendship: Symbols are not enough

Three months ago I was ringing the alarm bells for the Franco-German friendship by enumerating the problems between the two countries:

• the difference between French deficit spending and German frugality,
  
• the different security politics within NATO,
  
• and the ministerial shift of pro-German agriculture minister Bruno LeMaire.

I might add another example for controversy with the German solar power plans in northern Africa, rivalling with French nuclear power plans in Morocco. And what about division between Merkel and Sarkozy about the future President of the European Council?

But given the new German government and its expansionary fiscal policy, Sarkozy fell in love with Germany again. Now France and Germany are demonstrating symbolic unity: The chancellor flew to France first thing after she was sworn in. Sarkozy will be in Germany to celebrate the 20th annivesairy of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 11, followed by Merkel travelling to France, commemorating the end of the First World War.

For Sarkozy the honeymoon could well go a little bit farther than that:

• German ministers joining French cabinet meetings and vice-versa.
  
• A French minister for Germany and a German minister for France.

The SPIEGEL 45/2009 writes that this goes too far for Merkel's new government. French love for symbolism meets German love for pragmatic and output-oriented organization. In the chancellory, they don't think it would lead to any concrete results to have a French tourist with a political opinion at the cabinet table.

I like the message that would emanate from a French minister for Germany and vice-versa. But rather than on symbolism, the Franco-German friendship has to be based on concrete political results (as in the cooperation on the CAP). It has to be based on common positions in the international organizations and the EU. A German ministry for Europe, as argued by Deutsche Bank Research, could coordinate the positions of the German ministries in the Council and create more coherence between them. It could thereby coordinate policy with the French government which already has a ministry for European affairs.

In addition, the Franco-German partnership should support a strong diplomatic service of the European Union. If the European motor states don't back a common European position vis-à-vis China, India and the United States, Europe will become marginalized on the international scene. Recent actions by the US government show this very clearly.

But more important than political cooperation between France and Germany, there has to be a continued exchange between the citizens of our two countries via sister cities, study exchanges, language courses, scholarships and internship opportunities. The Franco-German friendship can only last if the citizens do not lose the interest in one another.

Revue de l'amitié franco-allemande

Jour de gloire pour la France et parmi les hôtes les plus connus à Paris, il y a le président allemand Horst Köhler. Sa visite en France est censé montrer que l'amitié franco-allemande persiste à travers la crise financier et économique. Pourtant, il y en a qui doutent de cette promesse. Au moment de fêter, ce blog ose faire la revue de l'amitié franco-allemande qui a déjà été plus profonde que maintenant dans l'histoire des deux pays.

Le paquet de relance proposé par Nicolas Sarkozy fin juin est un des problèmes principaux entre l'Allemagne et la France. Alors que Sarkozy favorise la dépense des moyens d'Etat, le gouvernement allemand s'est octroyé une stricte discipline budgetaire. A long terme, une telle politique suscite l'inflation des prix en France et des amendes repetés de la Comission Européenne. En même temps, le chômage en Allemagne croîtrera. Ces développements demanderont des reponses différentes et compliqueront l'accord de la France et de l'Allemagne à l'ECOFIN. Je me demande comment les deux pays se comporterons pendant les négociations pour le budget européen qui doit être approuvé par le Parlement Européen bientôt.

Un autre désaccord entre les deux pays se présente au sein de l'OTAN. Depuis son retour militaire à l'OTAN en avril, la France compte parmi les grands et redevient un partennaire important pour les Etats-Unis. A l'autre côté, l'Allemagne peine avec son engagement en Afghanistan, qui est mis à disposition avec chaque report sur des nouveaux attentats sur des soldats allemands. Déjà, l'Allemagne ne s'engage pas dans les régions du Sud, et le gouvernement américain se montre régulièrement décu que l'Allemagne ne fournit pas plus de soldats. Il parait que l'Allemagne est le nouveau cas problématique pour l'OTAN pendant que la France s'aligne de plus en plus aux côtés des Etats-Unis. Il est rassurant que les deux pays apparaissent sur la même ligne par rapport à l'Iran.

Ce que je trouve particulièrement dommage est le licensiement de Bruno Le Maire en tant que sécretaire d'Etat aux relations franco-allemande et sa reconduction au ministère de l'agriculture par Nicolas Sarkozy fin juin. Ce jeune homme qui était désigné exprès pour sa maitrise de l'allemand et ses expériences en Allemagne a travaillé beaucoup pour l'entente des deux pays. Pour moi, sa reconduction est un signe assez fort combien les relations franco-allemandes valent pour Sarkozy en réalité.

Donc en tout, les images de Köhler et Sarkozy seront bien positives, mais la relation pourrait être beaucoup mieux. Si je peux faire un souhait pour la journée de fête, je souhaiterais que la France mette en place une équipe des jeunes talents politiques au sein du ministère des affaires étrangères. Des jeunes qui brulent pour l'amitié franco-allemande et qui revivent son importance en tant que moteur de l'Europe.

On verra. En attendant, bon anniversaire la France!


Ajouté: Contrairement à mes expectations, le nouveau job de Bruno Le Maire en tant que ministre de l'agriculture ne signale peut-être pas la fin d'une meilleur entente franco-allemande. Tout au contraire, il parait que l'agriculture est même un des sujets à travers lesquels la France et l'Allemagne pourront faire revivre l'amitié franco-allemande.