Macron welcomes Scholzi as France and Germany seek common ground after Merkel

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to an initial working meeting in Paris on Friday as the two most powerful EU leaders begin looking for common ground to deal with internal and external blockade crises.

At the head of the agenda, French officials say there will be tensions over Ukraine, as US officials believe it may face the Russian invasion early next year, and Macron’s priorities for the French presidency, which begins on January 1, will begin.

Macron formed a friendly relationship with Angola Merkel, a longtime scholar of Scholze, who broke with German tradition by backing a joint effort to collect the unprecedented debt in the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the two leaders discussed key issues such as Germany’s gas imports from Russia, which it denies plans to invade Ukraine, and how to defend its relationship with Europe and other major competitors, including China.

Other EU countries have also worked to form small alliances – such as the Four Frugals of the Western Nations of Conservative Prosecutors or the Four of Eastern Visegrad – to partly address imbalances stemming from Franco-German coordination efforts.

“It’s okay when we have a Franco-German couple to get along well … but it’s never enough,” said Marion Gaillard, a French-German relations expert at the Sciences-Po Institute for Political Studies in Paris.

French diplomats are optimistic about Scholz’s ties to Germany, citing “strategic sovereignty” in the coalition agreement he brought to power, saying Macron echoes Europe’s push for “strategic autonomy”.

Another key issue is how to finance the transition to greener energy and what nuclear energy and the EU can consider as a renewable source – and therefore a source of funding.

Macron wants to build new nuclear reactors in France, and Germany’s plans are well established. However, the new German coalition agreement makes no mention of the issue, and Paris believes it leaves room for compromise.