Brussels, 22/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - During a joint press conference with French President François Hollande, on the occasion of the 50thanniversary of the French-German friendship treaty, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced, in Berlin on Tuesday 22 January, that France and Germany will put proposals forward in May to stabilise and strengthen economic and monetary union.
Merkel said (our translation throughout): “Together, Germany and France hope to present proposals by May in the context of preparations for the European Council in June, for the stabilisation and strengthening of economic and monetary union”. “Decisions will be taken in coming months in order to consolidate economic and monetary union. We are working on this. We shall endeavour to be as practical as possible, to be as useful as possible for strengthening growth”, Hollande said for his part. He added: “We shall also have to settle the question of Europe's budget. France and Germany shoulder part of the responsibility for that”.
Merkel said that Germany and France were aware of their “great responsibility” when it comes to “improving the situation in the European Union, overcoming the eurozone crisis, making economic growth possible, while defending the value of the European model, i.e. being competitive, strong economically and maintaining social cohesion”. She went on to say: “That model must also be made viable and able to work in the future”, affirming that this was the objective of the “concrete proposals” that would be presented by the French and Germans together.
“This will mean closer economic policy cooperation aimed at social security, employment, growth and financial stability”, Merkel explained.
With Tuesday 22 January marking the 50th anniversary of the French-German friendship treaty, Hannes Swoboda, the chairman of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, underlined the achievements and spelled out the challenges of that alliance at the core of the European Union.
“The treaty signed 50 years ago remains the central pillar of European cooperation. And with the election of François Hollande, the relationship between France and Germany has become more balanced. It is no longer about Chancellor Merkel imposing austerity policies against growth and employment. Merkel's hegemony has rightly been ended”, he said.
Swoboda considers that deficit reduction “can be combined with policies to fight unemployment. Studies prove that, in the long term, debt reduction is more effective when achieved through increased employment”. In his view, French-German cooperation is facing many challenges. Eastern Europe must be better integrated and division between northern and southern Europe must be avoided at all costs. He goes on: “Germany and France must frame a common security policy. The latest developments in the Sahel region have demonstrated the need for coherent European action. If they follow this path, Franco-German cooperation will not only be a historical success but will continue to be the central pillar of a united Europe”.
The chairman of the EPP Group at the European Parliament, Joseph Daul, also spoke on the subject, saying: “Franco-German reconciliation was already initiated on 9 May 1950 by the Robert Schuman Declaration. On 22 January 1963, De Gaulle and Adenauer sealed the two countries' lasting friendship”. He went on to say: “Thanks to the clear-sightedness of two statesmen, but also thanks to all the men and women who, on both sides of the Rhine, contributed to building this new page in history, France and Germany once and for all closed the chapter on the war to build the European project together. Since then, the French-German partnership has never stopped playing a fundamental role as the driving force in Europe”. Daul underlined that, 50 years later, the world has changed and the challenges facing European countries also, but the solution remains the same - the continuation of the European project. “The French-German partnership has a decisive role to play here. More than ever, Europe needs a strong and united French-German partnership”, he concluded.
In a joint statement published on Monday 21 January, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, the French agriculture minister, Stéphane Le Foll, and his German counterpart, Ilse Aigner, stress that agriculture is a pillar of European understanding. Le Foll asserts: “Agriculture has played a major role in French-German reconciliation. Today, the policies that concern agriculture and the rural world remain at the heart of the European project” (our translation). (LC/transl.jl)