Crisis-hit Scholz and Macron to meet in Paris – Europe live

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Crisis-hit Scholz and Macron to meet in Paris – Europe live
Author: Jakub Krupa
Published: Jan, 22 2025 08:27

Guten tag, bonjour, and good morning. It’s Wednesday, 22 January 2025. German chancellor Olaf Scholz is travelling to Paris this morning to meet French president Emmanuel Macron in what would once be seen as the absolute power meeting at the top of European politics.

 [A chart from a new poll commissioned by the German Embassy in Paris.]
Image Credit: the Guardian [A chart from a new poll commissioned by the German Embassy in Paris.]

This time, it is different – to the point that the German weekly Der Spiegel called it a meeting of two lame ducks. As Scholz struggles to get his message across and trails in the polls ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections and Macron struggles to deal with a near-permanent political crisis domestically, the celebrations of the 62nd anniversary of the Élysée Treaty are likely to be somewhat muted.

 [Olaf Scholz shakes hands with Emmanuel Macron before a meeting in Berlin last year.]
Image Credit: the Guardian [Olaf Scholz shakes hands with Emmanuel Macron before a meeting in Berlin last year.]

Still there is plenty to talk about: how to best deal with the small matter of Donald Trump, the war in Ukraine, and all sorts of questions about Europe’s position and competitiveness in a dynamically changing world. What makes things worse, though, is that the two do not seem to particularly get along personally. And they are not alone in this.

 [European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, pictured speaking at a press conference last year.]
Image Credit: the Guardian [European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, pictured speaking at a press conference last year.]

A representative poll of 1203 French adults, published last week, shows that for the first time, a narrow majority of the French—51%—actually do not like Germany that much, even if they think Franco-German relations are generally good. Two-thirds say they do not know Germany particularly well. When asked about their leading associations with the country, they point to the importance of work, the country’s economic power, and, erm, budgetary discipline, all mentioned by over 80% of respondents. Not particularly inspiring.

 [President Donald Trump speaking in the White House last night.]
Image Credit: the Guardian [President Donald Trump speaking in the White House last night.]

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