The Locomotives of Europe

As a pair, are Germany and France a European institution in themselves? The answer should be a clear yes! Of course they aren’t, but they should be. Grassroots partnerships have expanded steadily since the 1950s, along with scientific collaboration. The Elysée Treaty of 22 January 1963 led to the establishment of many institutions or paved the way for them to be established later, including the FrancoGerman University in Saarbrücken. This is not a university in its own right, but it manages or establishes joint study programmes.

The setting for signing the treaty had a certain irony. Seated in the middle, like Europe’s emperor, was Charles de Gaulle, flanked by his two heads of government, Adenauer and Pompidou. Then there were the two foreign ministers Maurice Couve de Murville and Gerhard Schröder (from the CDU). The Bundestag was not able to change the text of the treaty. On June 15, 1963, it passed a preamble to the law allowing ratification. This contained pretty much everything that was directed against de Gaulle’s policies: the hope of Britain’s accession, a close relationship with America, and defence within the framework of NATO.

The ‘Franco-German friendship’ is constantly evoked, usually in the context of commemorative events. But the Chancellor was serious when, in the wake of the Paris attacks, she said in the Bundestag on 16 December 2015: ‘The Franco-German friendship is part of our historical responsibility. It is an unshakable part of our foreign policy and it is fundamental to the process of European unification.’

The idea of Franco-German rule in Europe, of a Franco-German steering wheel, has rightly been rejected, but the role of the Franco-German engine is often underestimated. The community would have achieved little without Franco-German initiatives.

How does the rest of Europe feel about this? The idea of Franco-German rule in Europe, of a Franco-German steering wheel, has rightly been rejected, but the role of the Franco-German engine is often underestimated. The community would have achieved little without Franco-German initiatives. If an engine lacks the fuel of new proposals, it grinds to a halt. The most creative times were during the pairings of Helmut Schmidt/ Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Helmut Kohl/ François Mitterrand. How have things been under Angela Merkel? Nicolas Sarkozy would take the Chancellor’s proposals and announce them as if they were his own ideas. Attempts have been made to come up with joint proposals for Europe with François Hollande and Emmanuel Macron, but the differences between them are still too great in at least three key areas:

1. Accepting refugees. They both claim to share common ground, but this is simply untrue.
2. BREXIT. The German side is more lenient because of the country’s huge economic interests in the United Kingdom. By contrast, the French side is more rigid because it has to show Marine Le Pen and other Eurosceptics that a FREXIT would bring major disadvantages.
3. TTIP/CETA. Transatlantic free trade negotiations threw up conflicts that have now been superseded due to Donald Trump’s return to tough protectionist policies.

Hardly. In fact, the opposite is implied. Not only because more and more European companies are being bought up by China, making China an important part of the European economy, but also because of the negative and positive role played by the US. For many years, Alan Greenspan, Chair of the US Federal Reserve, was a highly respected figure in both Europe and the US. But at the end of the day he was to blame for the 2008 crisis that is still affecting Europe today. He allowed countless families to get mortgages to buy houses that then declined in value, leading to mortgage delinquencies when the housing bubble burst. He also failed to save the first major American bank to slide into the abyss as a result of these loans. The misdemeanours and crimes of big banks are only punished in America, and not just the foreign ones. The list of fines imposed shows Bank of America at the top with $16.7 billion in fines, followed by Deutsche Bank with (provisionally) 14 billion and JP Morgan with 13 billion.

However, there is one area where Europe has an integrated economy: the Common Agricultural Policy, generally known as the CAP. It has been an integral part of the EU since its introduction in 1958. It has seen frequent reforms, each time involving protests by agricultural associations, which have accused every Commissioner for Agriculture of betraying them, starting with Dutch politician Sicco Mansholt. The main policy instrument was price support until 1992, when farmers’ incomes were subsidised. At first it was still a case of modernising their production, which often led to a heavy debt load.

Large, wealthy farmers receive more than their smaller, poorer counterparts. 80% of aid goes to 20% of producers, including large poultry and sugar companies.

The answer is not simple. The ECB won a huge victory in July 2016. Germany’s Constitutional Court approved the ECB’s controversial bailout policy and, most importantly, granted the European Court of Justice the almost exclusive right to rule on European issues. For many plaintiffs to the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, their disappointment was mixed with bitterness. Is ‘Super Mario’ the saviour of the monetary unit and European agriculture?

But what if the economy doesn’t recover? Does this fit in with the pressure that every country is under to restructure their public finances? Is the ECB being too lenient with Portugal, Spain and particularly France? The Bank is sticking to its policy of low interest rates, which makes it cheaper for people to buy houses, but harms pensioners and investors.

What remains is that the euro will continue to create European identity – as long as its existence is not called into question. However, there are some experts who demand exactly that, albeit with the prediction that the new national currencies would then have to be devalued by 20%.

The economy can only be part of the identity of an institutionalised Europe if social aspects are added to the mix. Europe is perhaps the world’s wealthiest region, but it still has dramatic levels of youth unemployment. In July 2016, only 7.2% of under-25s were unemployed in Germany, compared to 24.4% in France, 26.3% in Portugal, 39.2% in Italy, 43.9% in Spain and 50.3% in Greece. Only Iceland is better placed than Germany in this respect.

Is this proof that Germany is ultimately the personification of Europe? This seems to be indicated by the economic data, the mix of admiration and envy felt by others and, last but not least, a secret army – more and more German civil servants are occupying the top positions in the EU Parliament and Commission. France has gradually abandoned its former, arrogant claim to leadership in Europe. At a press conference in 1964, Prime Minister Georges Pompidou stated: ‘France should play the role of Europe’ (not: ‘a role in Europe’).

The Fessenheim nuclear power plant on the French/ German border was to be shut down because German experts identified a number of safety concerns.

There are also clear signs of change in the Franco-German relationship. Is it a coincidence that Airbus, the astonishingly successful joint project, now has a German CEO in Thomas Enders? In her speech to the Bundestag on 29 September 2015, Angela Merkel gave an impressive definition of what this Europe should really be: ‘The European Union is a community of values and as such a community of law and responsibility.’ It would be good if this definition could also have meaning for her and for Europe with regard to the ongoing refugee tragedy.