October 27, 2022 20:18 PM
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Scholz held talks in Paris on the 26th local time.
[China News Agency]French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Scholz held talks in Paris on the 26th local time to discuss issues such as Franco-German relations.
Scholz arrived at the Elysee Palace in Paris that day, and Macron welcomed him. The two then held talks and had a working lunch. French officials said the talks between the leaders of France and Germany were “very constructive” and the two countries will continue working group-level discussions on defense, energy and other issues.
French public opinion generally believes that the French and German leaders chose to hold talks at this moment to seek to narrow the differences between the two sides on many issues, especially in the fields of energy and defense, and to revive the cooperation process between the two sides. However, Agence France-Presse quoted an analysis of the official arrangement as saying that expectations for the talks between Macron and Scholz were limited.
The energy crisis is currently the focus of common concern between France and Germany, but the two countries have differences on related issues. Germany has decided to spend huge sums of money to push for gas price subsidies and disagrees with EU-wide energy price caps. France and some other EU countries are concerned that Germany’s energy policy will affect their own energy costs.
France and Germany have also recently disagreed on defense issues. Germany is considered to be concerned with Eastern European defense and cooperates with relevant NATO members on missile defense system issues, while military cooperation projects with France, especially defense procurement projects, have been slow. In addition, France and Germany are also divided on how to adapt the EU to new challenges and how to allow the EU to quickly admit new members, Agence France-Presse said.