Merkel, Macron sign new friendship treaty
Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron signed a new treaty yesterday that was billed as a renewal of the 1963 Elysee accord that ended centuries of hostility between France and Germany and a model for closer European Union integration.
However, the agreement was dismissed by critics in both countries as a damp squib that fell far short of Macron’s calls for EU reform, even as it was attacked by the far-Right and far-Left for ceding too much sovereignty.
‘‘We live in special times and in these times there need to be more resolute, clear and forward-looking answers,’’ Merkel said, as she signed the treaty in the German border city of Aachen.
‘‘Populism and nationalism are strengthening in all our countries.
‘‘Seventy-four years, a single human lifespan, after the end of the Second World War, what seemed self-evident is being called into question.’’
‘‘Those who forget the value of French-German reconciliation are making themselves accomplices of the crimes of the past. Those who spread lies are hurting the very people they are pretending to defend by seeking to repeat our history,’’ Macron said.
The accord, signed on the 56th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty, pledges that France and Germany will coordinate their EU policy more closely in future and hold consultations ahead of EU summits.
It commits the two countries to come to each other’s aid in the event of attack and pledges further military cooperation, including working towards a European army. France agrees to support Germany in its attempts to secure a permanent seat on the UN security council, and the two countries agree to closer economic co-operation.
The treaty was dismissed by the French press, with Le Monde describing it as a pact with ‘‘little ambition’’. Le Figaro said it was proof the relationship between Macron and Merkel was a ‘‘botched honeymoon’’.
In Germany, Merkel came under attack for not offering Macron more on EU reform.
‘‘Emmanuel Macron has made us Germans many offers. We have not answered him enough yet,’’ Martin Schulz, the former leader of the centreLeft Social Democrats (SPD), said.
But the treaty was criticised by populist leaders in both countries for giving up too much sovereignty. Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-Right -National Rally, accused Macron of ‘‘an act that borders on treason’’ and said the treaty was a step towards ‘‘the collapse of the power of our country’’.
Alexander Gauland, leader of the nationalist AfD party, accused Merkel and Macron of seeking to create a ‘‘super EU’’ within the bloc, adding: ‘‘We don’t want Macron to renovate his country with German money.’’ Macron’s government was forced to defend itself against claims that the treaty would cede the regions of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, taking the rare step of issuing an official denial. –