AACHEN, Germany — Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron did little more than tinker with the Franco-German engine on Tuesday — but even that was enough to stoke fears among other Europeans that they will roar off on their own.
The two leaders signed the Treaty of Aachen, a 16-page contract seeking to boost cooperation in areas such as foreign policy, defense, trade, mobility and research. The ceremony, in the historic coronation hall of the west German city, took place exactly 56 years after the signature of the Elysée treaty, a highly symbolic post-war accord aimed at burying centuries of enmity between the two countries.
“At a moment where our Europe is threatened by the nationalist movements emerging inside its borders, shaken by a painful Brexit and worried by global concerns that go beyond nations — the climate, digital technology, terrorism or migration — Germany and France have to take responsibility and show the way,” Macron said before the signing ceremony.
Aachen was not chosen as the venue by chance. The city, known to French speakers as Aix-la-Chapelle, was the capital of the Franconian King Charlemagne, sometimes called the “father of Europe,” whose empire stretched over large parts of what later became the European Union’s six founding countries, including France and Germany.
The new treaty is more cautious than ambitious — long on aspirations and short on concrete commitments to make major changes. But talk of revving up the engine that has been at the center of the European project makes some other members of the EU nervous: They fear it could exclude them from decision-making as Berlin and Paris become ever more dominant inside the bloc after Brexit.
The Politico
