In a world of geopolitical turbulence, sluggish growth and galloping inflation, Europe needs the Franco-German couple more than ever.
A message carried, Tuesday in Paris, by the Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, and the German Vice-Chancellor and Minister of the Economy, Robert Habeck.
They showed their determination to work together for the industrial sovereignty of Europe.
Sweeping away the rumors about a
“complicated relationship”
between Paris and Berlin, the Bercy tenant highlights the
“reality of political decisions”
.
Concrete illustration: the German minister was in Paris to seal a tripartite space agreement between Germany, France and Italy.
This aims to guarantee the future use of Ariane and Vega C rockets by affirming the principle of European preference for launcher policy.
"We need stronger cooperation between our two countries in the face of stronger global competition"
, insisted Robert Habeck, targeting Joe Biden's vast anti-inflation aid plan (IRA), contrary
"to the rules of the 'WTO'
.
Paris and Berlin want to strengthen joint industrial programs, for example on hydrogen, artificial intelligence or industry 4.0, and involve other countries.
The two ministers are also campaigning for the rapid establishment of a common purchasing platform for critical metals, in order to better secure strategic supplies.
They ask Europe to speed up the deployment of the Piiec (important projects of common European interest).
European procedures
"are too cumbersome, too complex, too long
," says Bruno Le Maire.
During this working meeting, there was also a lot of talk about the energy crisis and the urgency of moving forward on common solutions.
While waiting for the reform of the European energy market, which will take several months, joint gas purchases must be implemented through long-term contracts to bring prices down.