Germany: Olaf Scholz expected in Paris for his first official visit abroad
The new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the German Parliament on December 8, 2021. AP - Michael Sohn
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Olaf Scholz is expected this Friday in Paris where the new German Chancellor is making his first official trip abroad.
Olaf Scholz will have lunch at the Élysée with President Macron.
The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to discuss the future of the Franco-German couple and the challenges that await it at European level.
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A strong Franco-German partnership is what Olaf Scholz wants.
The new chancellor said so even before
taking office
.
Olaf Scholz's Germany like Emmanuel Macron's France want to give the European Union more leeway, especially on the international scene.
Agreement required
To achieve this, an understanding between Paris and Berlin is necessary.
Moreover, when Paris speaks of strategic autonomy, Berlin responds to the strategic sovereignty of the EU;
the two partners are in favor of reforming the decision-making process in Brussels and would like to relax the rule of unanimity at twenty-seven.
But it will also require a good dose of compromise between Paris and Berlin because the differences are numerous.
On the role of nuclear power in energy, for example, or on European defense;
and it is above all in terms of stimulus and the budget that the greatest tensions are foreseeable.
The difficult revision of the Stability Pact
The new Minister of Finance, the liberal Christian Lindner, is a staunch supporter of austerity and of the European rule of a maximum 3% deficit.
“Whatever the cost” is not to his liking, and his counterpart
Bruno Le Maire
will have a lot to do to convince him that the recovery requires a review of the criteria of the stability pact.
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Also to listen: What Franco-German relationship after the departure of Angela Merkel?
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Germany
France
Olaf Scholz
Emmanuel Macron