The French president and the German chancellor were to meet for the Franco-German council of ministers on Wednesday, before it was finally postponed due in particular to differences on many issues.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
French President Emmanuel Macron will receive German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris on Wednesday October 26 against a backdrop of tensions between the two European countries, the Elysée announced on Thursday October 20. The two leaders met in Brussels on Thursday ahead of the opening of a European Union summit.
According to the French presidency, they also assured that they wanted to set “rapidly” a new date for the Franco-German Council of Ministers, which was to be held next Wednesday near Paris but had to be postponed in particular because of differences on many issues.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he was not “not good” for Europe than Germany “isolates himself”showing its willingness to work closely with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “I think it is not good for Germany or for Europe that it isolates itself”, he said on his arrival in Brussels for a European summit devoted to the crisis caused by soaring energy prices. Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz were to meet before the start of the summit to try to iron out the “differences” between the two countries on ways to lower gas and electricity prices.
>> Energy crisis: “national interests take precedence over Franco-German cooperation”, at the time of a crucial European Council
The Franco-German relationship, the engine of European cooperation, seems to have broken down. A meeting of ministers from the two countries, scheduled for October 26 in Fontainebleau (France), has been postponed to January. “I would not say that there is a breakdown as far as I am concerned. I have been for more than five years now always there to try to propose to move forward, to build unity”assured Emmanuel Macron.