As a French-German student, I have been experiencing some interesting differences of moral values and point of views. During four years, we (the students) have been told about French-German friendship, the historical base of this relationship and how positive all this has been during 50 years. Nonetheless I would put this affirmation of friendship in perspective from a critical point of view : first within both societies, then from a political and finally from an economical point of view.
Even if German and French are not seen as a hostile horde of aggressive enemies within the populations anymore, neither are they seen as friends. The percentage of pupils who choose German or French as first foreign language to learn at school at the age of 11 is very tiny. This choice is often motivated because, as German is harder to learn, the best pupils are put together in the best German-speaking classes.
Although people know the same American musicians, the national artists are almost unknown on the other side of the border. There is a very good reason for it : there is no common public sphere and no common medias. Even though Arte is a bi national TV channel, its content is mainly focused on culture and it is not really a mass media, which could bring both populations closer.
In both countries, normal citizens can give the name of one or two politicians of the other countries (at best). Negative nicknames such as the “boches”, “teutons”, and so on for the French and “Franzacken” for the German still remain within the populations.
Of course, not all French and German people dislike each other : German like the way French people live and especially how French people enjoy life. There is a typical German saying to describe this pleasant situation : “to live like God in France”. French people, on the other hand, admire the German organization and their economical power. But most of these statements are stereotypes, indeed, French and German people simply do not really know each other.
Since the signature of the Elysée’s treaty in 1963, both countries tried to maintain the myth of a French-German friendship. Though the couples de Gaulle/Adenauer, Schmidt/Giscard d’Estaing, Kohl/Mitterand, have brought the political elites closer, the majority of the French and German populations are indifferent to each other. Even ministers are not able to speak each other’s language. The last high-ranked French minister of the education who could, was Luc Ferry in 2002. Angela Merkel can speak Russian because she comes from the former German Democratic Republic, but not French : hence, where can both populations find examples of a strong friendship ?
Furthermore, the political cooperation between both countries is not as intensive as expected. In fact, both countries have often the same policy and stand together on consensual subjects (the nuclear program of Iran for example) . Nevertheless, inside the EU, France makes sure that Germany does not take too much power . There is a flavor of mistrust in this political relationship, which absolutely does not match with a friendship.
France and Germany are both the most important economic partner to each other. Nevertheless, the trust in this partnership on both side of the border is reduced. For instance, the French Government openly backed the merger of the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Sythelabo with Aventis (which was already a Franco-German company) in order to create a “national champion”, which could compete internationally with giants of the sector. On the contrary, when Alsthom (a train manufacturer) faced severe financial problems, the French economy minister Sarkozy prevented Siemens from buying it and urged banks to grant loans. Nowadays medias talk about this operation as a success how Alsthom has been “saved” by the French government. The question is : saved from what ? From more european integration ? If a big Indian company, for instance, wants to buy Alsthom : can Alsthom resist alone or will the government back it again, this time with even more protectionist measures ?
I think this position is not responsible in the long term. The more European companies stand together and merge with each other, the more the will be able to challenge international giants.
The next example of a (mostly) bi national cooperation is Airbus. By the way, it is funny to see how French people are persuaded that Airbus is a French company, forgetting the thousands of jobs in Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
This company is currently facing severe financial difficulties and it is interesting to see how both French and German governments get involved in a strict internal problems. In my opinion, not the Prime Minister but the executive director has to announce job cuts. The politicians must garantee that Airbus strictly remains European, because aircrafts are not a normal business. But the rest is a matter of business and not of politics.
To conclude this economic part, I would say that German and French companies (and sometimes involving governments) are quite rough with each other, forgetting that if they would play together and fair, without even thinking about any friendship, they could compete internationally.
We have two choices : either governments must find the means in order to bring both countries closer.
- They have to support the teaching of French or German in their countries, and could create common mass medias (radios and TV channels).
- On a political level, they must stop to mistrust each other and try to build an European unity.
- Then from an economical point of view, governments should not get involved in companies’ policies.
Or instead of using the word friendship, choosing the word partnership, which suits much better to this relationship and hope that the European Union will continue its unification without a strong Paris/Berlin axis…
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Hi everybody,
Very interesting article about the French-German relationship… Your analysis about the word “friendship” is definitely relevant… I totally agree with you when you say that partnership seems to be a more appropriate word to describe the situation… But in our globalized world, tensions are always more violent between countries which, in spite of the global rules, only focus on their own interests… And we can see that it is not the case between France and Germany (I don’t talk about the Airbus problem… I think it’s a too burning issu to be analyzed witout a biased opinion)… Our relations have always been deeper than just commercial ones etc. Centuries of partnership and rivalries make our relations different… We built Europe together, we learned the price of blood together, we faced difficult challenges together.. That is why I’m convinced that it is more than a partnership we are living with our German neighbours… It is true that the fact that I learned German at school, that I like Germany can make me have an “unfair” judgment.. But when I was in Germany, I didn’t find that we were really different… We may be have closer habits than with the Brits or the Americans…
I agree with you when you say examples showing that France is reluctant to create European champions… I think it is a bad idea, and I supported, for instance, the takeover of Enel in Suez… But Europe is not necessarily positive : we see with Airbus that the capital structure, shared between European states and firms, is a key explanation to the current problems… and all the countries protect their “champions” : I think that it is the state of Hamburg which is a key shareholder of Nivea (which was the target of some foreigners…). The examples you give of the prevalence of the national interests are true, but I don’t share the idea that it is a proof of the reducing or our relations… We are so dependant economically, even if we can be rivals sometimes (and very often for political reasons!)
When we look at the role of both countries in Europe, there is a double problem : the French need of being convinced that it is still the main country in Europe; and the German will of being the midpoint of the new large Europe, with a huge influence area… I think that a key solution could be a change in the European institutions… And I must admit that my preference goes to a Europe with two scales : the historical founders and the others… And I definitely believe that tere are lots of good things to take from the French-German motor!
The fact that our societies don’t know each other very well is an essential point… The problem is that we can not force people to learn German in France (and French in Germany), especially when more and more people think they have to acquire useful skills in our globalized world (learning the Chinese language etc.). That is why your idea of creating common media is essential: Arte only aims the elite of both countries… And for me the idea of common history book for schools is excellent… Why can’t we imagine other school programs in common too?
I am convinced that our relations together will be essential to solve our domestic problems and European problems : the Paris/Berlin axis is an historical reality both countries can not avoid. And even if this period is a tough one, I think that it will have positive effects in the future