The fall of the German coalition froze all bilateral work. The resumption of dialogue between Paris and Berlin promises to be difficult.
Would Christian Lindner’s ouster from the German coalition be good news for France? A quick analysis might suggest so. The budgetary orthodoxy of the FDP president and Berlin’s finance minister from 2021 has placed him in direct opposition to Paris on many points. Before his first meeting with his French counterpart Antoine Armand, during a European meeting a few weeks ago, he was readily sarcastic, stating « curious to know how France will return to healthy public finances “. A dinner then dissolved relations, especially because Armand had taken care to brush up his German for the occasion!
Lindner’s successor appointed on Thursday, Jörg Kukies (SPD), is well known in Bercy. « We have always worked well with him but on essentially technical topics. »comments a ministry source. Stay…