When Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle signed the 1963 Elysée treaty of friendship between France and Germany, it was a moving milestone on the road to postwar European integration. But Emmanuel Macron tends to avoid sentimental references to the Franco-German “couple” that made the modern EU possible. Ahead of 60th anniversary celebrations of the treaty last year, Mr Macron’s aides observed that, for the French president, “joint European action is a geopolitical necessity, not a romantic matter”.
A touch dry and uninspirational perhaps. But a more coldly analytical approach suits the times. The Franco-German alliance was the indispensable force behind the creation of both the EU’s single market and the euro. But as Europe struggles to define its place in a multipolar and more threatening world, the bedrock partnership at its core is not what it was.
