Posts Tagged ‘Sarkozy’

Why France and Germany are like a couple on the verge of divorce:

The balance of power between the two countries has shifted. Germany and France are no longer shoulder-to-shoulder equals. This is particularly hard for France. Put simply, its Europe policy has long consisted of coming up with the ideas, and getting the eager-to-please Germans to pay for them. More Europe, in other words, has meant more France. But this equation may no longer hold.

The shift is partly economic. In 1999-2009 France’s share of EU exports shrank while Germany’s grew; last year the Dutch exported more than the French. The Germans have put up with meagre pay rises and tight budgets to keep their cutting-edge industry competitive and public finances in order, whereas the French have put off serious reform and built up huge public debt, while working shorter weeks and taking more holidays. [...]

Fully 20 years after reunification, Germany is asserting its interests as the union’s chief paymaster, and no longer feels the need to please. “You can’t call it the Franco-German couple any more”, laments a French former foreign minister, “because Germany has found its place as Europe’s number one.”

And a couple therapist probably won’t be helpful; they even don’t know how to talk to each other:

Add to this combustible mix two leaders who do not understand each other, nor each other’s culture, nor even each other’s language. The steely, methodical Ms Merkel thinks that the French president lets politics triumph over rules. The mercurial, hyperactive Mr Sarkozy considers the German chancellor to be impossibly hesitant and legalistic.

Charlemagne: Why Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel disagree about the future of Europe

Nicolas Sarkozy über das iranische Atomprogramm:

“There are the same leaders, in Iran, who tell us that the nuclear program is peaceful and that the elections were honest. Frankly, who believes them?”

New York Times: Germany and France Take Hard Line on Iran.