Please note: with this article, we are beginning a series of publications on the cooperation between France and Germany in the fields of energy and climate.

Clean Energy Wire (CLEW), which creates and fosters high-quality journalism on the energy transition in Germany and beyond, as well as facilitating cross-border cooperation between journalists reporting on the shift towards a climate-friendly society, has launched a cross-border collaboration project between France and Germany to understand why it is difficult for the two main European Union member states, France and Germany, to agree on a vision for Europe's energy future. In this article, authors Camille Lafrance (Camille Lafrance) and Benjamin Wehrmann (Benjamin Wehrmann) explain why more attention needs to be paid to the workings of the French-German “engine” in the EU to understand European climate policy, and what is needed to ensure that the French-German alliance helps steer the bloc towards climate neutrality.

Europe has set a course to significantly change how cities are lit, goods are manufactured, homes are heated, and vehicles are powered across the continent. Yet, despite the EU's ambitious goals for sustainable transformation, the configuration of one particularly important mechanism is becoming increasingly unclear: the so-called French-German “engine”.

“Many observers truly believe that the key to success for Europe's climate neutrality ambitions is a joint bilateral strategy between Germany and France.”

The close coordination of the two largest economies on key issues has made their partnership a symbolic driving force for European integration since the very beginning of the project, when it was a community of coal and steel (ECSC), as well as nuclear energy (Euratom) in the 1950s. Recently, the pair's coordinated approach has significantly helped the EU formulate its efforts to become the leading region in climate matters, at least over the last decade.

A year before the next European Union elections in 2024, at a time when the growing pressure to reduce emissions and the major challenges posed by Russia's war in Ukraine increasingly demand decisive action, this engine has undoubtedly begun to “stutter” over various issues, such as the future of nuclear power, the role of gas supplies, or the use of e-fuels. Disputes over critical strategic areas related to climate and energy policy have not only highlighted high-level disagreements between Berlin and Paris. They also threaten to drive a wedge between the two main EU member states, which together account for nearly 45% of the bloc's GDP and consume more than a third of its energy. Therefore, at this decisive moment, the decisions taken jointly or separately may determine how close Europe will be able to get to its goal of becoming climate-neutral in just about 25 years.

In a French-German journalist collaboration project, Clean Energy Wire has investigated the state of this European partnership in the field of climate and energy policy, and what it means for the EU's plans as a whole.

Based on CLEW's extensive reporting on the ups and downs of Germany's energy transition, the study aims to find out to what extent this resonates with developments on the other side of the Rhine. Loud arguments often drown out quieter but more promising team-work initiatives and make it difficult to see where researchers, companies, and policymakers in both countries share a common vision for combining effective climate action with economic stability.

With documentation packed with views and facts from both countries, to be released in the coming weeks, CLEW aims to help journalists from France, Germany, and the rest of the world get past the constant noise of disputes that has become dominant in headlines about the French-German “engine”. While disagreements over nuclear energy are indeed fundamental, they only touch on one part of the much broader efforts required to launch a comprehensive transformation in European energy production and consumption.

We look at the underlying differences and similarities regarding strategic concepts such as energy sovereignty and sustainable transformation, examine the impact of the nuclear energy split and the technical nuances at the heart of the EU, and explore the prospects for better-coordinated industrial policy that can provide growth and jobs in line with the Green Deal.

During the preparation of this project, a surprising observation was the willingness of many interview partners to talk about an extremely important topic that policymakers had continued to successfully gloss over for years. Many observers truly believe that the key to success for European climate neutrality goals is a joint bilateral strategy between Germany and France, which is far from just wishful thinking, but is genuinely linked to Europe's climate neutrality efforts.

This is related to the concern that the vast potential of a more integrated climate and energy policy between Europe's two leading powers is ultimately wasted due to national convictions, competition, and simple short-sightedness in everyday political life. The task for journalists in both countries and beyond is to promote a better understanding of what drives both sides, what they expect from each other and what they dislike, as well as where their interests converge rather than collide. Hopefully, our dossier is a small step in this direction – and will serve as a key to the door for anyone ready to work on the next document.
CLEW / Mwelwa Musonko CC BY 4.0 image used for the original article