To ensure the most effective industrial policy in the EU, Paris and Berlin should push for policies that build on their strengths and help Europe leap forward instead of always chasing the United States and China.
The Franco-German relationship remains irreplaceable for the EU. But it urgently needs to be renewed to include European goals.
German and French political parties that might ostensibly share the same traditions and ideologies are actually moving further and further apart.
While the people of France and Germany have a largely positive image of the other country, that does not mean that they know or feel a particular empathy for each other.
Paris and Berlin need to find new ways to drive Europe forward despite their diverging visions—and uncertainty over elections.
The European Union seems disoriented in 2024. The German chancellor is turning to Washington when leadership is needed. That leaves French President Emmanuel Macron.
European politics is braced for a potential right-wing surge at the 2024 European Parliament elections. The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) may face tricky decisions.
European voters are in the habit of treating the European Parliament elections every five years as inconsequential protest votes based on national issues not related to the EU. But if they vote for the far right, it will have major economic, environmental, and geopolitical consequences.
The debate about further enhancing the EU’s financial firepower has led nowhere and might actually be regressing. It is time to discuss the future of the EU budget, its capacity to borrow and Europe’s taxing power with greater urgency.
The government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz set out to define its foreign and security policy in “the European interest,” but has regularly failed to do so. It should change course now.
The Weimar Triangle of France, Germany, and Poland is now supposed to propel Europe’s response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, but it isn’t working. Including the United Kingdom is essential.
Under AKP rule, Turkey has attempted to chart an independent course, focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Africa while not shying away from confronting the West. But there are limits to this strategy.
