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France and Germany Update Their Alliance

Jan 11, 2019 | 22:23 GMT

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron address the media during a press conference in the German chancellery on Nov. 18, 2018, in Berlin. The pair face an uphill battle in their goal of making Europe stronger.

(MICHELE TANTUSSI/Getty Images)

Highlights

Paris and Berlin will ink a document pledging more cooperation on security, defense and economic matters as they display unity in the face of Europe's challenges.
However, Germany will struggle to support France in its push to share financial risk across the Continent given Berlin's desire to maintain its close ties with fiscally conservative Northern European countries.
Even with the renewed Franco-German alliance, political disagreement within the European Union will continue to complicate the bloc's quest for an effective foreign policy.

More than half a century after an iconic treaty of friendship, the French and the Germans are preparing for a modern update to their alliance. On Jan. 22, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will sit down in the border town of Aachen to sign a document deepening the bond between Paris and Berlin. The document, which will spell out enhanced cooperation on security, defense and the economy, is meant to send the message that the two stand united in the face of the European Union's many challenges, which range from growing nationalism to disputes with global superpowers like the United States and China. While the document will probably resemble more a declaration of intent than a concrete list of policy goals, it shows that the two largest economies in the European Union are still interested in preserving their alliance. This does not entail, however, that France...

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