Macron-Merz: Power Behind the Scenes
French German relations have been very close for decades as key partners in driving forward European integration within the EU. Can the current leaders President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz reforge the relationship and build a Europe fit for the challenges of our times and the future? This documentary follows the two men across Europe and the world and observes their common goals as well as their differences.
The two-part documentary sheds light on the relationship between Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz. Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine and Donald Trump as an unpredictable U.S. president increase geopolitical pressure. Despite disagreements over the Mercosur Agreement as well as the project for a joint fighter jet, Paris and Berlin close ranks.
The beginnings between Macron and Merz are promising, but things then become more complicated. The initial positive momentum is slowed by geopolitical realities and internal tensions. For Ukraine, there is no peace in sight, and Putin intensifies the pressure through fake news and drone overflights within the EU’s external borders. Europe remains steadfast: it maintains support for Ukraine and strengthens its eastern flank.
U.S. President Trump becomes a hostile ally, threatening higher tariffs and laying claim to Danish territory, Greenland. Paris and Berlin continue to stand firm and reinforce their military presence in the High North. Despite Merz’s transatlantic leanings, the Franco-German alliance is reaffirmed during a dinner at Fort de Brégançon and on the occasion of a joint defense and security council in Toulon.
But then things begin to crumble from within. Faced with a new domestic political crisis, Macron rejects the EU-Mercosur agreement, thereby undermining German efforts to find new markets for its struggling economy. The Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS), aimed at developing next-generation fighter aircraft and a symbol of Franco-German ambition, also stalls for the time being because industry players cannot reach an agreement. Finally, Macron plays a trump card: he offers to extend France’s nuclear deterrent to Germany and seven other neighboring countries - for a stronger Europe.
>> Paul Maurice, Secretary General of the Study Committee for Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) at Ifri, provides his analysis of the Franco-German friendship, long seen as a driving force of Europe.
>> >> Watch the replay of Manuel Saint-Paul’s documentary “Macron-Merz: Power Behind the Scenes”, broadcast on ARTE.
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Paul MAURICE
Secretary General of the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa), Ifri
