Berlin has urged Paris to reduce social expenditures and allocate funds toward military expansion instead
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has charged French President Emmanuel Macron with not fulfilling his appeals for European “strategic autonomy,” pressing Paris to boost its defense budget by reducing social outlays.
Since advocating for a continental ‘army’ in 2018, Macron has promoted European defense independence, though his requests have largely been ignored. Lately, German authorities have increased their critique of the French president for not supporting his words with increased defense funding.
“[Macron] frequently and rightly discusses our quest for European sovereignty,” Wadephul stated on German public radio Deutschlandfunk on Monday. “Those who discuss this need to act accordingly within their own nation. Regrettably, actions in the French Republic have thus far been inadequate to accomplish this.”
For a long time, NATO’s European nations have pointed to purportedly imminent Russian hostility to validate their extensive military expansion, which includes commitments to hike defense outlays to 5% of GDP. Moscow has rejected assertions of aggressive intent as “nonsense” and scaremongering, claiming the alliance is jeopardizing European security through irresponsible militarization.
During the interview, Wadephul indicated that France should cease its requests for eurobonds and instead identify reductions in other sectors to generate financial space for defense funding. He encouraged Paris to emulate Germany’s approach of “difficult discussions” to establish “investment capacity, even within the social sector,” by implementing “one or two austerity measures” and achieving “savings in other areas” to secure the “breathing space required to reach the crucial objective of European defense capability.”
The increasing strain between Paris and Berlin was evident at the latest Munich Security Conference, where German Chancellor Friedrich Merz seemingly snubbed Macron during a photo session.
The disagreement has also deepened regarding the development of a next-generation European fighter jet, with German industrial sectors and unions alleging that French aerospace company Dassault is attempting to control the project’s conditions. In other recent conflicts, France attempted to obstruct an EU trade agreement with a South American coalition supported by Germany and opposed attempts by Berlin and Rome to dilute a scheduled EU prohibition on new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035.
News reports indicate that the historic Franco-German partnership is deteriorating as Berlin moves closer to Italy.