Germany and France are really that different

During her visit to Paris earlier this week, Annalena Baerbock (Greens) asserted that the Franco-German relationship was not in ruins. "There are no broken pieces that have to be swept up in these moments," assured the German Foreign Minister. However, the fact that she held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday shows how much effort is being made on both sides to reach an agreement.

Because it is not usual for the President to receive a foreign minister in the Élysée. But Macron ignored the protocol twice this week and also asked Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) to talk.

On Friday, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will make up for her trip to Berlin and the meeting with the Federal Chancellor that was already planned for the end of September. Both sides know that in times of war, Europe cannot afford a Franco-German rift.

Therefore, all signs point to reconciliation. But again and again compromises have to be found and the rifts that traditionally separate Berlin and Paris on many issues have to be overcome.

Germany has made a giant leap since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Nevertheless, the different military culture is the deepest chasm separating the two countries. In France, the president is the supreme commander of the army, in Germany everything remotely related to weapons has to be approved by the Bundestag.

The nuclear power France proudly has its soldiers adorned with feathers and sabers parading down the Champs Élysées, in Germany the sight of Bundeswehr soldiers with torches at tattoos honoring fallen comrades tends to trigger embarrassment or anxiety.

One can argue about whether the war on our own doorstep promoted Macron's project of strategic autonomy for Europe or instead kissed awake NATO, which he had declared "brain dead". From a German perspective, the Russian threat shows that the transatlantic alliance is a "central pillar and NATO is an indispensable part of our security," as the coalition agreement states.

In Paris, however, people are convinced that one does not exclude the other. From a French perspective, Moscow's war of aggression has made the need for strategic autonomy even more obvious.

After the ambitious armament projects that Germany and France announced in 2017 almost ended in fiasco, the joint fighter jet, Future Combat Air System, or FCAS for short, is now to be built after all. However, the constant tugging between German and French armaments manufacturers has shown that although development costs would be spread over several shoulders, in the end solid industrial interests count.

For months they seemed insurmountable. There is still no question of a happy ending. A week ago, the Ministry of Defense in Berlin announced that an agreement had been reached. The French counterparts, however, knew nothing about it.

Airbus followed up with a cautious explanation, but the French company Dassault remained silent. The contract is still not signed. The chaotic and hasty communication alone shows that you are not really talking to each other.

The two neighboring countries are also worlds apart when it comes to energy policy issues. France gets 70 percent of its electricity from nuclear power and has criminally neglected the expansion of renewable energies. Germany has decided to phase out nuclear power, but has relied entirely on Russian gas.

In these fast-moving times, it may have been forgotten that Paris opposed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and blocked approval for construction in Brussels for a long time. Macron justified his vehement resistance by saying that dependence on Moscow should not be strengthened and that the interests of Eastern Europeans should be taken into account. Arguments that didn't go down well in Berlin.

Macron embodies a French technocracy that saw and still sees its civil and military independence secured by decades of unchallenged nuclear culture. Conversely, the German Greens could not even jump over their shadow in an emergency. The painful debate about the extension of the running time of a few nuclear power plants could only end with a word of authority from the chancellor.

Interestingly, however, there was no malice or gloating from the French side in view of the German energy dilemma. This may be due to the fact that everyone is currently in the same boat and that France also has serious problems with its energy supply.

Almost half of France's nuclear power plants are still idle due to necessary repairs. The electricity exporter has turned into an importer in this energy crisis of all things. But while opinions are divided on the question of capping the price of gas in Brussels, Paris and Berlin are showing exceptional solidarity, at least when it comes to supply: France is supplying gas to Germany, while the Federal Republic of Germany is helping the nuclear nation with electricity.

President Macron took office in 2016 with a promise to reform France and finally restructure the finances. But his enthusiasm was quickly curbed. First came the yellow vest crisis, then the corona pandemic, and finally the Ukraine war.

During the pandemic, Macron wanted to save France's economy "by any means". He had literally adopted the credo of his Italian friend Mario Draghi, who, as head of the European Central Bank, coined the formula of "whatever it takes".

In view of the energy crisis, it is still valid. Paris began capping rising electricity prices a year ago. The already very high government deficit will therefore continue to grow in the coming year. Just this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reprimanded Paris again.

The debt rules in the euro zone are still suspended by an emergency clause, which is why France can continue to put off its mountain of debt for the time being. With a debt ratio of 120 percent of annual economic output, it has long been calling for a redefinition of fiscal rules in Brussels.

And while German taxpayers like to have the feeling that they have to finance the sweet life of the so-called Club Med states in the south, the French have the suspicion that their neighbors have been using their immense export surpluses for years with low wages and an economic policy that is not always based on solidarity has bought. On Thursday, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) visited his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire to talk about "current economic and financial policy issues", as the ministry announced in Berlin.

Despite all the rifts: In the crisis, Paris and Berlin now want to move closer together and work closely together on key technologies. At least that's what Habeck and his French counterpart assured on Tuesday in Paris. There is now even agreement that a European answer to the American anti-inflation law is to be given.

Scholz, who wants to avoid a trade war with the US at all costs, has obviously sided with France in the face of distortions of competition and the threat of industrial production moving away.