The Study Committee on French-German Relations (Cerfa)
The Study Committee on French-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 French-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 French-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 French-German relations
The Cerfa maintains close relations with the network of German foundations and think-tanks, including the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Genshagen Foundation, French-German Institute (DFI), and German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
The Cerfa contributes actively to the emergence of a new French-German generation, most notably through French-German Future Dialogue.
Secretary general of the Study Committee for Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
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Research Fellow
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Project Manager, Study Committee on French-German Relations (Cerfa) at Ifri
Assistant
Research associate
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Research Associate
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When the German president, foreign minister, and defense minister gave speeches at the 2014 Munich Security conference—speeches now recognized as watershed moments in Germany security policy—hope began to blossom in France. Would German defense and security policy finally become “normal?” Many...
The 1970s were a decade of anti-war movements. Willy Brandt received the Nobel Peace Prize for his détente policy toward the Eastern Bloc – and West German defense spending peaked at 3.13 percent of GDP in 1975. Clearly, those days are long gone.
The German dual system of professional training is seen as an international reference model. It aims at training qualified employees for an innovative economy rather than being the last resort for less able pupils. Parents and adolescents regard apprenticeships as an entry ticket to a good job...
In light of transatlantic tensions and a deteriorated security environment, European security affairs are at the crossroads.
The term "refugee crisis" is not uncontroversial in Germany; it is indeed accused of presenting the refugees as being responsible for the crisis. The events that have occurred since the summer of 2015 should rather be called "crisis of the authorities", given that Germany could have...
US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will severely degrade regional and global security. His decision has increased the risk of war and a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and beyond. ...
In light of the current instability on Europe’s borders and uncertainties about the international role of the US under the administration of President Donald Trump, it is high time for Franco-German foreign policy initiatives. With the formation of a new German government, a window of...
How can we define Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy since he took office? After Nicolas Sarkozy’s brazen style of “gutsy diplomacy” and François Hollande’s “normal diplomacy”, the eighth president of the Fifth Republic seems to have opted for an agile classicism. In substance, he makes no claim...
In 2016, the European Union issued its Global Strategy, the Union’s latest foreign and security policy strategy document. The strategy “nurtures the ambition of strategic autonomy for the European Union”. American policymakers’ feelings about these aspirations are, to say the least,...
What risks might the European Union be facing in 2027? Shaken by growing internal agitation as well as wider geopolitical developments, the European Union (EU) needs to redefine its role on the world scene while strengthening its core project. Integration has taken place on all...
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...
The French-German Future Dialogue 2017 was joined by ten Polish participants in Warsaw for a last seminar on the future risks for Foreign Policy of the European Union. The...
The Study Committee on French-German relations (Cerfa) will be analysing the German general elections held on Septembre 24th. What impact on home affairs and foreign policy will the vote have?
The Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) used to carry the promise of a paneuropean security order. It is the only Euroatlantic security organization in which the “West” and Russia can cooperate on an equal footing.
Five days after the French presidential elections the eleventh yeargroup of the French German Future Dialogue met for their first seminar on the Loire banks in the French city of Nantes. Main discussion topics included the elections in 2017 and Foreign EU poliy.
The German debate about public investment policy faces a dilemma. The deficits in public infrastructure have grown considerably due to comparatively low investments in recent years. In addition, substantial investments for promising mega-projects, such as the energy transition (...
Seminar in Brussels
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The Study Committee for Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) and the Russia/NIS Center at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) organize an informal meeting with Stephen Szabo, Executive Director of the Transatlantic Academy - GMF who has...
Debate chaired by Thierry de Montbrial, President, Ifri.
On invitation only.
Nicolas Sarkozy used to promote himself as a transatlanticist or anglophile French president. Emmanuel Macron seems to have taken this approach a step further. Macron appears to have taken upon France and himself the responsibility of not allowing Britain and more importantly, the United...
French President Emmanuel Macron is accelerating EU defense cooperation. The biggest obstacle are the French-German cultural differences. Can terrorism, Trump and Putin force closer military cooperation in Europe? Yes, says Barbara Kunz, research fellow at the French Institute for...
HELSINKI (AFP) - A century after gaining independence from its powerful neighbour Russia, Finland continues to consolidate its ties to the West, as tensions flare between Moscow and the West. Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and an uptick in military activity in the Baltic region have...
The French president’s speech on ambitious EU reform met politely raised eyebrows in Germany as Berlin struggles to build a new government. Any other day, a two-hour plea from the French president for a stronger European Union would have sent politicians in Germany rushing for the nearest mic....
The Netherlands and France are not the only founding member states of the European Union that see extreme right party’s on the rise. The “Alternative für Deutschland” gathers 10 percent of voting intentions in Germany – especially in the East. Some of its leaders don’t hesitate to use...
The right-wing spiral of Germany’s anti-EU Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) has brought it shoulder to shoulder with France’s National Front (NF). The two parties see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, including Russia.
The Swedish government has decided to reintroduce military conscription - a move backed by the country's MPs. Why is this happening? And how will it work? How does it impact regional security? And which other European countries have conscription?
Angela Merkel loosing the elections in Germany could be one of the many electoral suprises in 2017. Surveys on voting intentions for the legislative elections in September show that her opponent Martin Schulz (social-democrat) has started overtaking her.
On Germanys second channel, ZDF, Barbara Kunz enlarges upon the French presidential election in May.
