In Les Echos, Yann Wernert comments on the recently strained relationship between Germany and France amidst the cancellation of the council meeting.
The response to the energy crisis has been a difficult issue between Paris and Berlin. Recently, among other member states, France did not agree with Germany’s 200 billion euro aid package announced by Scholz to support German households and businesses. In response, Germany is being accused of a lack of solidarity with EU member states. "Germany will have to do something to show that it is in solidarity with Europe. It has no desire to be seen as a selfish and hegemonic power. This is a core feeling of German identity that has run through the entire political class since 1945, with the exception of the extreme right,” Yann Wernert said in Les Echos.
Moreover, a Franco-German council meeting scheduled for 26 October was postponed last-minute to early next year. “The cooperation between the two countries is so intense that there are always tensions and sometimes dramatisations," Wernert reacted. "This cancellation is causing a stir in the current context, but it is not the first time that a Franco-German council has been postponed, nor the last. This is the strength of this relationship, there are big differences but we manage to overcome them," he added.