Germany and France drifting apart

Relations between Germany and France have cooled considerably in recent years despite all appearances, writes the daily Le Monde: "Paris and Berlin hold similar positions on financial regulation and the fight against global warming. However that is still a long shot from sharing truly vigorous ambitions. France is like a rejected lover in this marriage of convenience. Economically-minded government, a minister responsible for French-German relations, common energy and industrial policies, all of these propositions come from Paris. Germany is hardly thrilled by any of them because it's convinced it has found the winning economic formula. France meanwhile toils away at its modernisation, however its public deficit robs it of all credibility. The two capitals give every appearance of having signed a non-aggression pact without having any common project to speak of. ... The voluntarism of the 1960s - with twin cities and language exchange programmes - has dwindled almost to nothing."

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