The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) was founded by an intergovernmental treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic in 1954. It has analyzed relations between the two countries for over 60 years. The Cerfa engages in a wide range of activities. It promotes the Franco-German debate and policy-oriented research through conferences and seminars that bring together experts, policy-makers, decision-makers and civil society representatives of both countries.
The Cerfa publishes regularly books reflecting on the current state of Franco-German relations and two research note series – Notes du Cerfa and Visions franco-allemandes – that target primarily French decision-makers, with the aim of elucidating political, economic and social evolutions in contemporary Germany, and closely following current developments in Franco-German relations.
The Cerfa maintains close relations with the network of German foundations and think-tanks, including the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Heinrich Böll Foundation, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Genshagen Foundation, French-German Institute (DFI), and German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
The Cerfa contributed actively to the emergence of a new French-German generation, most notably through Franco-German Future Dialogue (2007-2020).
Secretary General of the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
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Research Fellow, Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
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Research Fellow, Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
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Assistant
Counselor on Franco-German relations at Ifri
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Associate Research Fellow, Study Committee for Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
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German development cooperation (GDC) in a post-Merkel era can be expected to become more geopolitical. Recently adopted German policy documents like the Indo-Pacific guidelines as well as the support to the geopolitical ambition of the European Commission suggest such a tendency for future...
In France, the prospect of the Greens entering the German government this fall raises both hopes and fears.
Just like most of the European Social-Democratic parties, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) has been going through a major crisis for several decades. Its centrism that got Gerhard Schröder elected in 1998 and 2002 is seen as a betrayal by the party's traditional...
As an essential platform for multilateralism, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has always been important to German diplomacy, although in varying degrees. Historically, Germany’s support for the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe...
The year 2020 was to be a pivotal year for (re)formulating Europe's Africa strategy. Germany and France were committed to strengthening relations between the two continents and to consolidating them at the sixth summit of the African Union and the European Union, which was postponed because of...
The German EU presidency in the second half of 2020 was Angela Merkel’s last presidency, shortly before her chancellorship ends in 2021. It was therefore expected that the Chancellor would use all her experience and influence to achieve positive results.
On July 1, 2020, Germany assumed the six-month EU Council Presidency, at a time of global pandemic crisis. This presidency has thus quickly become a “corona presidency” in its objectives and functioning, itself a victim of the pandemic.
EU policy on migration and asylum is being built for the last 20 years. But this process is today on hold although France and Germany support the same position on this matter. However, the “migration crisis” in 2015 highlighted the weakness of the Franco-German alliance and the extend to which...
After the regional elections in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg in March 2021, the FDP is attracting more attention again, mainly because of its traditional role as a coalition party.
In late February 2021, Germany’s left-wing party Die Linke gave themselves a new party executive. The new team is supposed to lead the party into the federal elections in September and, if possible, into a national center-left government.
There is "no strategic autonomy without digital sovereignty", declared Charles Michel, President of the Council of the European Union in February 2021. In this logic, the European Commission calls for a more autonomous Europe in security-related areas such as digital policy and data...
Online Seminar - French-German Workshop for the Future
As demonstrated by the current negotiations over the new European Africa strategy, 2020 is a milestone for the relationship between the two continents.
Before the Covid 19 crisis, the German presidency had set an ambitious agenda for EU-China relations, in particular with the prospect of an EU-China summit in Leipzig in September.
Ahead of Germany's EU Council presidency and amidst debates over the EU recovery plan and 2021-2027 budget, what happens in Berlin critically matters.
A "Les Jeudis de l'Ifri" videoconférence around Eric-André MARTIN, Secretary General of the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations - Cerfa...
Discussion with Birgit Sippel, MEP, and Éric-André Martin, Secretary General of the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) at the French Institute of International...
The Think Thank 7 (T7) is an engagement group that brings together the leading Think Tanks from the G7 countries in order to analyze and make recommendations on key issues of the G7 presidency.
Following the extraordinary meeting of the Eurogroup on the 19th November, negotiations on the development of the euro area are entering a new phase. The question on the solidity of the Eurozone concerning the Italian budget as well as the French-German proposal for a Eurozone budget are on...
In the light of a more demanding security environment, but also a rare momentum for further European integration, Berlin and Paris are challenged to take their security and defence cooperation to the next level, bilaterally as well as in the EU. Progress in Franco-German security and...
Macron set to become the uncontested leader of Europe with German chancellor’s exit.
"Thirty years of infidelity" is how France's current affairs magazine Marianne describes Germany's relationship with France. An issue this month was devoted to how Germany has been "fleecing France" for years.
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has called for closer bilateral cooperation with France in light of the tense security situation in Europe marked by the Russian “threat”, the rise of China and spreading “Islamist terrorism” in the Sahel region.
Cyprus is set to be ‘remade’ in the coming years through €1 billion in grants from the European Recovery Plan, as we’ve reported here, but there are a few issues to be resolved along the way, according to EU policy experts and economists.
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The European Union’s chief antitrust official, Margrethe Vestager, has made her name tackling big corporate fish in pretty unconventional ways. A ruling on Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which came with a seven-figure fine, argued free services weren’t always good for the consumer, while...
Germany's Ursula von der Leyen nominated to lead EU Commission.
The Think Thank 7 (T7) is an engagement group that brings together the leading Think Tanks from the G7 countries in order to analyze and make recommendations on key issues of the G7 presidency.
Since the financial crisis of 2008, has the balance of power between France and Germany shifted in favor of Berlin? Does Angela Merkel alone decide on the conduct of the European Union? The answer obviously deserves to be nuanced.
On May 26, the Germans will go to the polls to elect their MEPs. An important election for Germany, where political parties have been in the process of restructuring since the last federal election.
Angela Merkel insists that the EU should avoid “putting pressure” on Britain when it comes to Brexit. After a wearying, six-hour EU summit in Brussels, the German chancellor said it was important to give the British “more space” to “make their own choices”. [...]
