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Europe

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Europe is described here in a geographical sense. It is not limited to the European Union, and includes, for example, the United Kingdom and the Balkans. It remains central to international relations.

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EU flag waving in front of European Parliament building. Brussels, Belgium
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Publications
Press
Date de publication
June 2024

The Future of Europe’s Strategic Deterrence is (also) at Sea

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The French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle"
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The French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle"
Credits : Joris van Boven/Shutterstock
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A cursory look at both France and the UK suggests that the future of European nuclear deterrence is at sea.

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Between „Strategic Autonomy” and „Zeitenwende”: The Importance of Trade Between The EU and Mercosur

Date de publication
11 September 2024
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This policy paper analyses the geopolitical and economic significance of the EU-Mercosur agreement for the European Union (EU) in the context of the EU’s new European Economic Security Strategy.

Simon Gerards IGLESIAS Marie KRPATA Ana Helena PALERMO KUSS

Ensuring a Fair Green Transition

Date de publication
06 September 2024
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“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, stated UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023, emphasising that we are currently on a path of global warming above 2.4°C or even 2.9°C.

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Deployment of the French Frigate Bretagne in the Indo-Pacific: Implementing French Strategy in the Region

Date de publication
02 September 2024
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The deployment of the French Navy’s multi-mission frigate (FREMM) Bretagne in the Indo-Pacific in recent months demonstrates France’s capability to project power far from the mainland and solidifies its Indo-Pacific strategy.

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Neither Left nor Right, but Both? The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in the Wake of European Elections

Date de publication
02 July 2024
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The 2024 European elections not only provided the occasion for a new German party, the “Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht” (BSW), to emerge but also to obtain 6.2% of the vote.

Thorsten HOLZHAUSER
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Funding A Rival: When the United States and Europe Invest in Chinese Tech

Date de publication
02 July 2024
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Outbound investments into rival powers are receiving increasing political attention on both sides of the Atlantic, as competition between the United States and China intensifies. The concern lies with American and European investments in certain Chinese technologies - such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, semiconductors, or quantum computing - which could enable China to enhance its military capabilities and thus may pose risks to national and international security.

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The Future of Europe’s Strategic Deterrence is (also) at Sea

Date de publication
11 June 2024
Accroche

A cursory look at both France and the UK suggests that the future of European nuclear deterrence is at sea.

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Global Governance, Ukraine, and the European Union: Quo Vadis?

Date de publication
07 June 2024
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The technological revolution of the latter half of the twentieth century, 9/11, and the 2007–2008 financial crisis have delimited the West’s dream of harmonious globalization.

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France Adapts to an Era of Strategic Competition With China

Date de publication
05 June 2024
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Under Macron, France is positioning itself as a "balanced power," carefully navigating the complexities of engaging with China. 
 
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Franco-German relation faces familiar challenge ahead of Macron’s Germany trip

24 May 2024
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Franco-German symbolism, rather than bickering over policy, will briefly take centre stage when French President Emmanuel Macron meets German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on Sunday (26 May) during a three-day state visit, the first in 24 years. 

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'Depth of Franco-German bond': Macron to meet German president in rare state visit

24 May 2024
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French President Emmanuel Macron will visit his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on Sunday in what is seen as the highest level of diplomatic courtesy gestures.

Towards a New European Trade Strategy in Times of Geopolitical Upheaval: The German Perspective

Date de publication
06 October 2023
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As one of the most successful trading blocs, the EU sees itself confronted with the erosion of the global rules-based trading system and trade becoming increasingly weaponized.

Klemens KOBER

Zeitenwende: The Bundeswehr’s Paradigm Shift

Date de publication
29 September 2023
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marked a turning point in German defense policy. After thirty years of military downsizing, the Bundeswehr found itself at an extremely low capability level just as a high-intensity war involving a great power was breaking out on Europe’s doorstep for the first time since 1945. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s response was to embrace this “turning point” (Zeitenwende) by launching a major program to reequip Germany’s armed forces.

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Allemagne d'aujourd'hui 2023/2 (N° 244)

DOSSIER - 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty (1963) and implementation of the Treaty of Aachen (2019): where do Franco-German relations stand?

Date de publication
29 June 2023
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On January 23, 2023, France and Germany celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty. This is an opportunity for us to analyze the state of relations between the two countries, and the contribution made by the Treaty of Aachen, which was added in 2019.

Paul MAURICE Hans STARK Claire DEMESMAY, Visiting professor, Alfred Grosser Research Chair, Sciences Po Jérôme VAILLANT
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France’s Place Within NATO: Toward a Strategic Aggiornamento?

Date de publication
27 June 2023
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With a rapidly deteriorating security environment, a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, internal disputes exploding into public view, and questions being raised about the scope of its security responsibilities, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) seemed to be in dire straits at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

European and Japanese Soft Power Signal Renewed Influence of G7

Date de publication
25 May 2023
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The G7 summit in Hiroshima showcased a new international order in the making: in a world where security is indivisible, the priority should be to uphold a collectively shaped rules-based order and find a modus vivendi with China. The G7 can work toward this by taking into account the diverse perspectives of industrialized countries and the Global South, which prioritizes multi-alignment and autonomy. Japan and Europe played a critical role in this process.

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EU's China policy staying on track despite intensifying debate

Date de publication
10 May 2023
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While French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to China is viewed by some to be an exercise in stirring the pot, this does not mean that the European boat has veered off course. The EU is used to robust debate among and within member states, and can take this as another opportunity to affirm their stance on China.

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Fishing for Chips: Assessing the EU Chips Act

Date de publication
08 July 2022
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China, the United States, and the European Union (EU) are currently developing strategies for semiconductors aimed at financing R&D and the installation of new factories on their territories, in particular through subsidies. The EU Chips Act, announced in February 2022, represents a real break in Europe's industrial policy.

Niclas Frederic POITIERS Pauline WEIL
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Rapprochement in Times of Crisis: War in Ukraine and the EU-Japan Partnership

Date de publication
11 May 2022
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The war in Ukraine has shaken the foundations of European security and of the global rules-based order. In many ways, Russia’s aggression has been a wake-up call for the EU, adding a sense of urgency to its ongoing transformation to becoming a stronger geopolitical actor, materialised by the recent publication of its Strategic Compass – its first-ever white paper for security and defence. 

Céline PAJON Eva PEJSOVA
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Arctic: Toward the End of the Exception? Strategic, Nuclear and Maritime Issues in the Region

Date de publication
26 April 2022
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Through multiple international initiatives, including the creation of the Arctic Council at the end of the Cold War in 1996, the Arctic appears to be one of the last areas of peaceful cooperation in the world. This “Arctic exception” is also devoid of any serious territorial dispute between the neighboring countries, some of which are nevertheless great powers: Russia, the United States, Canada, but also Sweden, Norway, Denmark (via Greenland), Iceland and Finland.

Europe’s Quest for Technological Power

Date de publication
19 March 2022
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Computing power plays a key role in enabling data analytics and machine learning, in cybersecurity, for scientific research, and in military domains like nuclear warhead design and detonation simulation.

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France and China link up in global infrastructure projects

24 February 2022
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Paris and Beijing have agreed to build infrastructure projects in Africa, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. But will this help shine light on China’s opaque foreign investments? Or just give the appearance of doing so?

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Will the European presidency help Macron secure a second term?

18 January 2022
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The French president, whose leadership will be challenged in April, may seek reforms as he guides the EU. With months to go until its presidential election, France took on the rotating presidency of the European Council on January 1.

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Sub snub just one symptom of longtime French unease with US

24 September 2021
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Born of a revolution fought for liberty, ties between the United States and its oldest ally, France, have long been fraternal, but they've also been marked by deep French unease over their equality.

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America's Defense Pact with Australia and the U.K. Has Humiliated France's Macron. But It Might Also Help Him

21 September 2021
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For years, French President Emmanuel Macron butted heads, bit his tongue in frustration, and lashed out at former President Donald Trump, who refused to yield an inch to his entreaties about global cooperation. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement on climate change—cherished projects for Macron—and trashed the NATO military alliance as “obsolete.”

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World’s Rich Nations Jostle to Lead Globalization Clubhouse

28 October 2020
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The race to fill a role at the heart of world economic policy making is turning into a new battleground for the future of globalization.

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Foreign Policy

U.S. Allies Look on in Dismay While U.S. Rivals Rejoice

05 June 2020
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Trump’s failure to convene a G-7 meeting is only the latest blow to America’s crumbling prestige in the face of nationwide unrest. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week declined an invitation to join U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington for a star-crossed meeting of the G-7, and then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rebuffed Trump’s plans to bring Russia back into the group, it underscored how profoundly U.S. allies and partners have soured on American leadership amid a mishandled pandemic and a violent crackdown on protesters.

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Europe’s relationship with China is now one of mistrust and hostility

02 May 2020
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At the start of the pandemic, Europe and China helped one other. Then the mood changed.

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France to spell out post-Brexit nuclear weapons strategy

07 February 2020
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France, the European Union's sole nuclear power since Britain's exit from the bloc, will unveil Friday how it intends to use its atomic arsenal as a deterrent in an increasingly unstable world.

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NATO Took Some Knocks But Survives Its 70th Anniversary Party

04 December 2019
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NATO’s 70th turned out to be less like a birthday party and more a Thanksgiving dinner for a large dysfunctional family: Not all of them got on, a few snide remarks were made, but in the end everyone seemed to accept they’re stuck with each other. “We had a very successful meeting,” said an evidently relieved Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, citing the unity she had seen among the alliance’s 29 leaders. “So I’m very pleased.”

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China or the US? Europe’s ‘impossible choice’ in the trade war

29 May 2019
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Growing tensions between China and the United States over the escalating trade dispute – and the resulting global uncertainty – are forcing other countries to choose between the two economic superpowers.

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Related centers and programs
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The Pariser Platz (Paris Square) on the east side of the Brandenburg Gate at Berlin, Germany
The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
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The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) was created in 1954 by an inter-governmental agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and France, in order to raise awareness of Germany in France and analyze Franco-German relations, including in their European and international dimensions. In its conferences and seminars, which bring together experts, political leaders, senior decision-makers and representatives of civil society from both countries, Cerfa develops the Franco-German debate and stimulates political proposals. It regularly publishes studies through two collections: Cerfa notes and studies as well as Franco-German visions.

 

Cerfa maintains close relations with the network of German foundations and think tanks. In addition to its research and debate activities, Cerfa promotes the emergence of a new Franco-German generation through original cooperation programs. This is how in 2021-2022, Cerfa led a program on multilateralism with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Paris. This program is aimed at young professionals from both countries interested in the issues of multilateralism in the context of their activities. It covered a wide range of themes relating to multilateralism, such as international trade, health, human rights and migration, non-proliferation and disarmament. Previously, Cerfa had participated in the Franco-German future dialogue, co-led with the DGAP from 2007 to 2020, and supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation and the Daniel Vernet group (formerly the Franco-German Reflection Group) which was founded in 2014 upon the initiative of the Genshagen Foundation.

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France, Austria Flags, European Union
Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ)
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The Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ/CFA) is a Franco-Austrian intergovernmental organization, initiated in 1976 by Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, in order to develop economic relations between Western and Eastern Europe, contributing to the creation of a Europe of peace.


After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ÖFZ/CFA refocused its action on the problems following the enlargement of the European Union, and integrated the following countries in its field of activities : Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the Baltic countries, Romania and Bulgaria. ÖFZ/CFA's vocation, as a space for reflection and exchange, is in fact reinforced by the need to support the new member countries of the Union in their integration process. Since 2004, the ÖFZ/CFA has also turned towards the Union's new neighbors, in particular towards the countries of the Western Balkans, which perceive their future from a European perspective.


The ÖFZ/CFA strives to place all of its exchanges in a global perspective concerning the future of our continent. Today it centers its activities around three directions: the Franco-Austrian bilateral dialogue, the future of the European Union, the future recomposition of the continent.

Reports of all events organized by the ÖFZ/CFA are available on its website (http://oefz.at). The ÖFZ/CFA's budget is provided by the French and Austrian foreign ministries. Depending on the themes addressed, the ÖFZ/CFA calls on European public and private institutions to help finance its meetings. The CFA's orientations benefit from the recommendations of an Orientation Council, approved by a Board of Directors, which elects from among its members a president and a secretary general.

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EU flag waving in front of European Parliament building. Brussels, Belgium
symbiot/Shutterstock