Merkel and Macron plot Europe's future

THE hand of history was on the minds of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in their mini-summit at the end of last week. Some 76 years after Paris was liberated from Nazi forces, the two leaders plotted the future of the European Union (EU), and Europe's wider role in the world.

The meeting at Fort de Bregancon was the first bilateral summit there since 1985. At that time, Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand forged a close partnership, despite their political differences, and Dr Merkel and Mr Macron are working more closely together now than at any time during their respective periods in office.

While the Franco-German alliance has long been the motor of European integration, cooperation between the two powers ebbs and flows. The current high point in the Macron and Merkel relationship partially reflects the fact that the former faces an uncertain election outlook in 2022, while the latter is leaving office next year. Yet, it is not just this limited time horizon focusing minds. The issues environment is also encouraging deeper partnership, and Dr Merkel said on Friday that "we need to ramp up our cooperation, whether it's Lebanon or Belarus or Covid-19... even though we don't enjoy global leadership, we will ensure EU makes its voice heard", echoing Mr Macron's theme of "European sovereignty".