(Bloomberg Opinion) — Now that German leaders have responded to French President Emmanuel Macron’s provocative remarks concerning the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an unusually wide public rift has emerged between France and Germany. At its root, it’s about France’s leadership ambitions, to which Germany is opposed without itself wanting to lead.

“We do want a strong and sovereign Europe,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote in an op-ed article in the weekly Der Spiegel on Sunday. “But we need it as part of a strong NATO, and not as a substitute.”

That doesn’t just mean Maas is keen to preserve Europe’s, and Germany’s, transatlantic alliance regardless of U.S. President Donald Trump’s relative lack of interest in it — simply because Europe cannot defend itself without U.S. help today. Maas insisted that “when Europe is one day able to defend its own security, we should still want NATO.” And, directly answering Macron’s musings about improving relations with Russia as the alliance with the U.S. erodes, the German minister declared that “Germany will not tolerate any special arrangements, not vis-à-vis Moscow and not on any other matters,” because it takes the security of Poland and the Baltic states to heart.

These are strong statements, especially coming from Maas. He’s a member of the Social Democratic Party, which is less pro-U.S. and pro-NATO than its senior partner in Germany’s governing coalition, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union. But on the points Maas made in his article, the German government appears to be united. Merkel, too, has criticized Macron’s vision more sharply than on any other matter since his election in 2017, calling it a “sweeping attack.”

“We must bring the European part of NATO closer together,” Merkel said on her regular Sunday podcast. That, she added, was what the European Union defense project, known as Permanent Structured Cooperation, or Pesco, is all about.

That’s an approach radically different from Macron’s. To him, the EU defense project is about strategic sovereignty. To German politicians, it’s largely an efficiency project aimed at harmonizing European countries’ defense industries, cutting the number of different defense systems used by member states’ armies, and centralizing the development of new weapons such as warplanes and tanks.

This German visio is consistent with the Framework Nations Concept, adopted by NATO in 2014. It’s a mechanism for voluntary defense cooperation built around specific nations’ projects, such as Germany’s own idea of coordinating the development of defense capabilities, or the U.K.’s work on a multinational rapid response force. Under the concept, pretty much any cooperation projects, even those including non-NATO members such as Sweden and Finland, can take place under NATO’s umbrella.

With NATO providing such a flexible platform, it’s often not obvious why any other defense cooperation programs are necessary. NATO and the EU have agreed to coordinate their activities, anyway, and it’s evident from progress reports on that effort that this creates a lot of duplicative bureaucratic activity such as cross-participation in working groups. The same exercises under the program get two different names, one for the EU and one for NATO.

But especially from the French point of view, NATO isn’t the best platform for joint procurement programs, because outside it, Europeans can keep out U.S. competition. Involving NATO also means dealing with the U.S. as the organization’s military leader. France, as the country with the strongest military in the EU, likes to exercise leadership, too. Which is perhaps the best explanation for Macron’s European Intervention Initiative, an attempt at coordinating European countries’ strategic thinking that isn’t even part of EU defense cooperation.

Germany doesn’t have France’s military ambitions. It’s a low defense spender because higher expenditure is politically unpopular. The Bundeswehr’s combat readiness is constantly in question, and there’s all the weight of history on the shoulders of  German leaders. So German politicians see their function in maintaining European security differently than Macron does, even if they, too, refer to “leadership.”

“As a country at the centre of Europe, Germany must play a central, mediatory and balanced role – within Europe and vis-a-vis the United States,” Maas wrote. “If we do not assume this leadership role, nobody will.”

Being a mediator, though, is not the same as being a leader. An unambitious, compromise-minded Germany won’t compete with Macron’s cocky France, but it’ll be a drag on Macron’s security strategizing, getting in the way as he tries to provoke the U.S. with talk of strategic autonomy or flirt with Russia. It’ll provide the reliably boring alternative, and that’s probably for the best: Any machine in which Macron designs the sporty engine needs German-made brakes.

To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion’s Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/germany-won-t-enlist-in-macron-s-european-army-1.1346425

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French President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday signed a new friendship treaty that is designed to deepen the Franco-German friendship, bring ties to a “new level” and improve the lives of citizens in both countries.

The treaty was signed in the German city of Aachen, as France and Germany marked the 56th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty.

The idea isn’t new. Paris, in particular, has regularly suggested renewing the treaty in the decades since it was first signed, despite the fact that amendments have been added over the years.

The Treaty of Aachen will be the “foundation of cooperation between our countries,” said Merkel before the signing the new friendship pact.

Read more: Opinion: A Franco-German political spring

“Seventy-four years, a single human lifetime, after the end of World War II, what seems self-evident is being called into question again,” she said. “That’s why, first of all, there needs to be a new commitment toward our responsibility within the European Union, a responsibility held by Germany and France.”

French President Emmanuel Macron hit out at those “spreading lies” about the treaty and stressed the importance of French-German reconciliation.

“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 same people they are pretending to defend by seeking to repeat our history,” Macron said.

However, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told DW TV that he would have liked to see Tuesday’s accord go further.

“This is not a revolution,” Ayrault said. “You could even say that it could have been more amibitious — more daring.”

Given the political difficulties and the resurgence of nationalism in both countries, Ayrault said “we have a duty to be daring. You can’t be ambitious without being daring. That’s lacking a little. Even though I do view it as a positive step overall.”

Intensified partnership

The initial treaty dates back to the early 1960s, just 18 years after World War II. On January 22, 1963, French President Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed the historic Elysee Treaty that sealed reconciliation between the two former archenemies.

With their signatures, the governments agreed on mandatory consultations, close political cooperation and a broad-based youth exchange. Since then, more than 8.4 million young German and French citizens have taken part in exchange programs in both countries.

The essence of the Elysee Treaty, which merely describes a cooperation process, does not need to be changed — but this new extension is intended to send a political message, namely that Berlin and Paris want to tackle the next stage in Franco-German cooperation and prepare the ground for EU reform. At the same time, the intensified partnership is seen as a challenge to the rising populism and nationalism in Europe.

In the new joint 16-page declaration, Merkel and Macron have addressed initiatives in various policy areas. The renewed pact includes plans to extend exchange programs for citizens of both countries and intensify cooperation in European, foreign and security policies. It also pledges stronger economic integration, which includes coordinated environmental and climate policies. Refugee policies, however, have not been specifically addressed.

The German Bundestag and the French National Assembly have also passed resolutions demanding closer cooperation between both countries. This includes concrete examples that are now to be implemented, ranging from joint vocational training centers to a Franco-German center for artificial intelligence. In addition, a Franco-German parliamentary agreement is set to boost exchange between the two parliaments. Plans also include the uniform implementation of EU directives in both countries.

Focus on the economy

Germany is already France’s most important economic trading partner, but now the two countries plan to move even closer together and create a Franco-German economic area, cutting back on bureaucratic hurdles.

“Together, we are better than each of us alone — not only on a joint domestic market, but also with common rules in commercial law, insolvency and company law, and with identical assessment criteria for corporation taxation,” Andreas Jung, head of the Franco-German Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag, told DW.

The bid for harmonization is not new — in 2011, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy and Merkel agreed on uniform corporate taxes, but implementation was a long time coming because of the many technical pitfalls.

Security and armament

The renewed Elysee Treaty also focuses on Franco-German defense cooperation and the fight against terrorism — and here, the countries have already come a long way. A joint military unit, the Franco-German Brigade, was created in 1989. It has, however, lost some of its significance in recent years, and plays no major role in the countries’ day-to-day military routines.

Moving from visions to concrete defense projects has always been difficult because of the nations’ diverging philosophies: The French are more likely to opt for intervention, while the Germans are very reluctant on the military stage. That should improve, however, as Germany and France have pledged assistance — including military assistance — “in the event of an armed attack” on one of the two countries.

Securing the digital future

Prosperity in the 21st century is closely linked to the digital revolution, and the partner countries also want to initiate a “digital union.” US giants including Apple, Google and Amazon dominate this market, but lawmakers have urged Germany and France to try to set up a Franco-German center for artificial intelligence to support European companies directly or indirectly with taxpayers’ money.

However, a move in that direction has backfired in the past. Just over 10 years ago, when Google was conquering the world, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Jacques Chirac kicked off the plans for a Franco-German search engine, the Quaero project. But Germany would leave the project less than a year later.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/merkel-and-macron-sign-treaty-of-aachen-to-revive-eu/a-47172186

The post Merkel and Macron sign Treaty of Aachen to revive EU first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Germany is working to loosen its arms export control rules to make it easier to continue with joint weapons projects with France, according to an internal strategy paper obtained by Der Spiegel magazine.

The four-point paper, entitled “German-French industry cooperation in the defense area – common understanding and principles about sales,” said that “both states will develop a common approach to arms exports with joint projects.” It also said, “The parties will not stand against a transfer or an export to third countries.”

Der Spiegel described the paper as a “secret” adjunct to the Aachen friendship treaty, signed in January, which pledged cooperation on a host of future projects.

The apparently innocuous point contained a potential political collision, since France is one of the main suppliers of arms to Saudi Arabia, while Germany has officially stopped all exports to Riyadh in reaction to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The French company Naval Group and Saudi Arabia’s state-owned arms company SAMI, which is headed by a German, also signed a joint statement of intent on Sunday, agreeing to build frigates and submarines together.

France and Germany last year embarked on three major joint military projects, including a complex Future Air Combat System (FACS) involving both manned and unmanned aircraft, and there are also plans for common tank projects.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has also already suggested that Europe also have a common army.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen joined her French counterpart Florence Parly to inspect new technology.

Read more: France, Germany present new military aircraft plans in Berlin

Compromises

Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that Germany ought to be willing to compromise on the issue during her speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, when she said that a common European defense policy would necessarily mean a common arms export policy.

In the ensuing Q+A, a question from a French politician drew a suggestion that Merkel actually finds Germany arms export controls a hindrance. “What worries me a lot at the moment is the question of our arms export policy,” she said.

“We have because of our history very good reasons to have very strict arms export guidelines, but we have just as good reasons in our defense community to stand together in a joint defense policy. And if we want … to develop joint fighter planes, joint tanks, then there’s no other way but to move step-by-step towards common export controls guidelines.”

That statement would have delighted Tom Enders,  head of manufacturer Airbus, who condemned Germany’s ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia on Sunday as “a kind of moral high ground attitude.”

But Merkel’s tone may lead to conflict with her coalition partners, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), who still oppose exports into conflict zones.

Not a secret

At a regular government press conference on Monday, Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert rejected Der Spiegel‘s characterization of the internal paper as a “secret deal,” though he admitted that common defense projects with France would “require compromises from us too.”

Instead, he said, the document represented no more than “an initial political agreement” about common procedures on arms exports. He said that further details would be hashed out in upcoming talks, “with the aim of turning it into a formal agreement.”

The Green party’s defense policy spokeswoman, Agnieszka Brugger, warned that closer cooperation with France should not be carried out “at the expense of security and human rights.”

“It is not in the security interests of either state to deliver weapons to brutal parties at war and human rights abusers,” she told DW. She also pointed out that the European Union already had a joint arms export policy that “includes clever criteria.” “Germany and France should return to this European agreement, which protects human rights and security,” she said.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are leading a military coalition in the four-year conflict in Yemen, which the United Nations says is causing the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the Second World War.

Tobias Pflüger, arms policy spokesman for the socialist Left party, which opposes all arms exports, described the agreement as “scandalous,” because it means that “all the agreements that already exist would be circumvented.” “Even the minimal agreements made to limit exports to Saudi Arabia – we even don’t know how long they will last, by the way – even they would be obsolete,” he said.

As Pflüger pointed out, joint military projects cannot be planned without making plans for the sale of weapons in the future – indeed, many would probably never be financed unless their sales can be safely predicted.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-angela-merkel-makes-arms-export-pact-with-france/a-47568557

The post Germany’s Angela Merkel makes arms export pact with France first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

France and Germany – political and economic powerhouses of Europe – have rewritten the terms of their long-term engagement to increase bilateral cooperation, offering a promise of long-term peace and stability on the continent. However, it might have the opposite effect.

President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel signed their landmark agreement on January 22 in the city of Aachen, 56 years after their predecessors inked the historic Elysee Treaty establishing the contours of post-war reconciliation between the erstwhile rivals.

The 16-page document details cooperation in various diverse fields such as defense, foreign policy, climate, politics, culture, economy and business.

The venue chosen for making the agreement is highly symbolic.

Aachen was the capital of King Charlemagne, famous ruler in the 8th and 9th centuries credited with uniting Europe by establishing an empire consisting of most of the territory of the six countries, including France and Germany, that became founding members of the EU.

Like the venue, the timing is crucial. The agreement cements closer Franco-German cooperation and their position within EU at a time when the U.K. is embroiled in an intense political struggle to leave the union.

The agreement primarily covers bilateral matters, yet it also creates a platform to considerably impact wider EU policies.

Given the fact that the two countries fought three wars against each other in less than a century, security and foreign policy naturally are priority areas. They pledged to provide “aid and assistance by all means at their disposal, including armed forces, in case of aggression against their territory.”

A Franco-German Defense and Security Council is to be established to provide guidance and direction in this regard.

Economic and commercial ties have also been given special place and the two sides agreed to set up a Franco-German economic zone with common rules. They also agreed to harmonize the rules related to doing business.

The third tier of agreement is about diplomatic relations. France will make efforts for Germany’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council. The two countries will also work for unified EU stand on various issues that come before the world body.

The fourth tier is related to people-to-people contacts. It provides for promotion of facilities on both sides of the border so that people and business entities can easily move to and fro.

The agreement is seen as a sheet-anchor in a turbulent 21st century to keep Franco-German ties on an even keel, and strengthen the European integration project.

However, far-right parties on both sides of the border, and detractors within the EU, are crying foul and branding the agreement as being a disservice to their respective people.

There are claims that the agreement will erode sovereignty. Both French and German right-wing politicians allege that the agreement will compromise national freedom by giving each other too much say in the affairs of the other.

The objection is somewhat outdated. The traditional idea of sovereignty is losing its sheen. And the concept of absolute freedom of action has changed in the presence of hundreds of bilateral, regional and international bodies that keep a check on the sovereign powers.

However, those claiming that Germany and France are creating a “Super EU” are partly right. This is countered by an argument that, even without Aachen agreement, the two countries are strong enough to influence EU politics.

Also, there is no secret that both Merkel and Macron want to strengthen European ability to become less dependent for security on the U.S. and NATO.

Overall, however, the Aachen treaty is good to the extent that it will further integrate the policies of France and Germany and reduce chances of friction between them that would be widely damaging.

Yet, any effort to dictate to the rest of Europe, or build some kind of European security union by sidelining the U.S. or U.K., could actually further divide and weaken the continent.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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