French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Germany's behavior in the current energy crisis in Europe, accusing it of working to isolate itself.
"I think it is not good for Germany, or Europe, for Germany to isolate itself," Macron said on the sidelines of a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday.
"Of course, we must maintain our unity," Macron added, indicating that he intended to work with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to find a solution.
Germany is currently facing criticism within the European Union, in part, for refusing to set a ceiling for gas prices in Europe, a move demanded by the majority of the bloc's member states.
France is among the countries that support setting such a ceiling, especially for gas that is used in the production of electricity, and Macron described this step as a "mechanism to better separate gas and electricity prices from each other."
Macron said he intends to work for a joint European debt-sustainment program, but Schulz rejects this step, and the German chancellor said that a lot of money is still available from the support program created during the Corona crisis.
The German government had launched a program worth 200 billion euros to alleviate the burdens resulting from the rise in gas and electricity prices, and in return, many European bloc countries considered that this step would affect competition, because they could not launch a program of this size.
These countries accused Germany of taking a solo path in the energy crisis.
European Union leaders remained divided on Thursday over how to respond to high gas prices as the start of a two-day summit in Brussels.
After most EU countries called for a cap on gas prices, the European Commission eventually proposed limiting wholesale gas prices only as a last resort if prices in the bloc reached excessive levels.
Visit Schultz
In the same context, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz plans to visit the French capital, Paris, next Wednesday, to meet with President Emmanuel Macron.
This comes despite the postponement of the meeting of the German-French ministerial council, which was scheduled for next week.
And the German news agency learned from what it described as government departments, today, Thursday, that Schultz is expected to hold talks with Macron, he will also attend a lunch, and hold a press conference at the end of the visit, before leaving for Athens on his first visit to the Greek capital since assuming the position of chancellor. .
Yesterday, Wednesday, Berlin and Paris announced the postponement of the German-French ministerial meeting to January 2023, after it was scheduled to be held in the Fontainebleau region near Paris next week.
And German government spokesman Steffen Hepstrait explained yesterday that the reason for the delay was the existence of parallel dates for some ministers, in addition to the constant need for coordination on "bilateral issues", but he did not give details, while the Elysee Palace explained that the reason for the delay was due to the need to take further action. of discussion on important defense and energy issues prior to the meeting.