Where does ‘the Elysée barometer’ stand 60 years after the signature of the Treaty?

Abstract

Leadership in the European Union has been an ongoing challenge for decades irrespective of crisis times or silent periods. The Franco-German axis that recently celebrated its 60 birthday as the Elysée Treaty was signed in 1963. This leadership has been criticised at times for showing to much activism (e.g. at times of the Eurozone crisis) while in other periods, just the contrary, criticisms concerned the lack of activisms of the two. European leadership is facing serious challenges for internal political reasons (Macron's re-election, Scholz's challenges in the post-Merkel era) as well as for external reasons - with special attention to the war in the Ukraine. The panel intends to explore German and French insights to their new roles in the European Union, especially their co-operation in the area of foreign policy. As the Russian-Ukrainian war highlights the geopolitical role of the Central and Eastern European region, case studies look at the new challenges, like the changing position of Poland within the EU and the (lack of) ambitions of the regional cooperation (Visegrad 4). In this panel, we look at how the EU's leadership dynamics have evolved in recent years, both in France and Germany, the axis of integration as well as in other Western member states belonging to the core of Europe, and in the Central and Eastern European countries that joined 18 years ago. We will also look at the relations between Member States, their European and foreign policies and agendas in other polices such as energy or enlargement.

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The New Geopolitical Order in Europe: French insights	View Paper Details