Even if you take into account that a new government is just getting used to it in Germany and that there is an election campaign in France, it is astonishing how long the two leading EU powers have hesitated to initiate initiatives in the Ukraine crisis.
Putin kicked the Europeans out of the game for their own continent weeks ago, but Macron and Scholz are only now trying to get a foot in the door again.
The Normandy format, which is to be revived in Paris, is after all a meeting where Ukraine and Russia sit around the same table.
The main issue is Donbass, but defusing the situation in the breakaway areas would be a step forward, because Putin can easily create a pretext for military action there.
In the EU, Germany used to see itself as the advocate of Eastern Europe, while France has always flirted with a special relationship with Moscow.
Today, these roles are almost reversed, even if both countries are not breaking away from the Western consensus in the current crisis.
It is heavily influenced by Washington, because the Europeans are too weak militarily and have made themselves too dependent on Russian gas.
Macron's "strategic rearmament" of Europe will only succeed if these two factors fundamentally change.