Les relations Franco-Allemandes après Merkozy

Infographie : F. Descheemaekere

[The New York Times]

Charles Grant is director of the Center for European Reform.

Before becoming president of France, François Hollande did not appear to take much interest in the European Union. However, in his youth he was a protégé of Jacques Delors, the French left’s great European, and his instincts seem to be broadly pro-E.U. Hollande’s arrival at the Elysée has not led to dramatic changes in France’s E.U. policy, but a new approach is emerging. 

Compared with Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande has been less hostile to E.U. institutions, more willing to work closely with South European states and, most crucially, keener to demonstrate that France does not slavishly follow German wishes. A recent round of conversations with officials in the Elysée Palace and the finance and foreign ministries made clear that Hollande knows well that a strong Franco-German relationship is indispensable to sorting out the problems of the euro zone in particular and the E.U. in general.
But Hollande wants a more balanced relationship.

Lire : nytimes.com