France and Germany work in cooperation when dealing with the EU’s policies and problems. Recently, the French President and German counselor announced that they would dedicate €500 billion to supporting the EU’s economic recovery (Puglierin & Franke, 2020). However, apart from addressing the EU’s internal issues, the two states have been paying attention to foreign policy, as China proceeds with its mask diplomacy and considering the United States’ divisive policy towards the EU.
Germany plays a more active role in determining the foreign policy of the EU after the state became the EU’s Councill chairman on July 1, 2020 (Puglierin & Franke, 2020). However, the state’s approach to managing foreign policy can be characterized as pragmatic. The President of France, however, expresses a more visionary approach to foreign policy for the EU. According to Puglierin and Franke (2020), “France and Germany should use the momentum they created through their agreement on the recovery fund to give the EU a stronger geopolitical voice” (para. 5). Moreover, in 2017, the two states presented a unified agenda for managing foreign and internal policies of the EU, which points to the fact that leaders of both states recognize the need to develop a similar approach to managing EU foreign policies (Kempin & Kunz, 2017). More specifically, the states began to strengthen their military forces in light of geopolitical threats.
Overall, the survey of the citizens of the EU states shows that Germany shapes foreign policy to a larger extent when compared with France. However, France has a distinctly different approach to foreign policy, since its President expresses visionary ideas, unlike Germany’s counselor, who focuses on a pragmatic approach. In essence, both states are powerful forces and should work in cooperation to manage the EU’s foreign policy.
References
Kampin, R. & Kunz, B. (2017). France, Germany, and the quest for European strategic autonomy. IFRI. Web.
Puglierin, J. & Franke, U. E. (2020). The big engine that might: How France and Germany can build a geopolitical Europe. European Council of Foreign Relations. Web.