Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz call to strengthen EU’s “sovereignty”

The two leaders published a common gallery on Friday, two days before the 60ᵉ anniversary of the Elysée Treaty.

Mo12345lemonde with AFP

The French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, call on Friday January 20, to strengthen the “sovereignty” of the European Union, in a common gallery published two days from the Council of Franco- German.

This is an essential challenge for the EU “to guarantee that Europe becomes even more sovereign and has geopolitical capacities to shape the international order”, write in Daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung French and German leaders, before 60 anniversary of the Elysée Treaty which unites the two countries.

Europe, according to them, must invest more in its armed forces and its armament industry. “Improved European capacities and a stronger European pillar within NATO also make us a stronger partner vis-à-vis the other side of the Atlantic and the United States-better equipped, more effective And more powerful, “they underline.

Council of Franco-German ministers

After months of floating, MM. Macron and Scholz are challenged to relaunch the Franco-German tandem on Sunday in Paris, for the 60 e anniversary of the treaty of reconciliation between the two countries. This agreement made it possible to “overcome decades, even centuries, of bitter rivalries and bloody wars between our two countries in the heart of Europe”, argue the two leaders.

European sovereignty should not be measured in military terms but also on the capacities of “resilience and to act prospectively in strategic fields”. This implies a diversification of “strategic supply goods”, they add. Europe must also do everything to “become the first climate continent in the world”.

mm. Macron and Scholz cite like other objectives that Europe becomes “a world leader in production and innovation” and that “economic and social progress goes hand in hand with an ecological transition”. The festivities promise to be quite formal on Sunday with a ceremony at the Sorbonne in the morning, followed by a Council of Franco-German ministers at the Elysée, the same one that had been postponed at the end of bilateral dissensions.