Six years after his famous Sorbonne speech on “European sovereignty,” the French president is pondering a new, legacy-building EU initiative. This time it’s likely focused on institutional reform.

This weekend France and Germany celebrate a treaty that was born in discord and remains the manifestation of their continued disagreements. Yet celebrating the Franco-German myth remains an imperative of realpolitik.

Germany is in the middle of a vibrant debate about its future foreign policy and to what extent to help Urkaine. In France, Macron decides alone. Strangely, two different political cultures produce the same policy results.

Why are Paris and Berlin currently so at odds with each other? The simple answer is: Scholz’ EU strategy is a copycat of Macron’s. But Europe can’t take two Macrons.