Franco-German Reconciliation And European Integration

As the hard core and twin engine, it's no doubt that the couple of France and Germany play an important role in the European integration processes. It's also well known that France and Germany have controversies over issues of European integration. Some critics even believe that France and Germany are strange bedfellows and backscratching. Although France and Germany have reconciled since the very beginning of European integration, and even signed a formal reconciliation agreement (The Elysee Treaty), it doesn't mean that they really get over all their controversies. On the issues of accepting the United Kingdom into the Community, EU enlargement and deepening, especially the implementation of the euro and the reunification of Germany and some other issues, France and Germany have made significantly different, even combative positions. In a sense, the constant run-in, compromise and deepening of Franco-German reconciliation, brings about what European integration arrives up to today. In the recent European sovereign debt crisis, France and Germany have shown exactly consistent position:confronting the crisis with close consultation and cooperation."Merkozy", the combination of the couples' leaders Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, became a witty portrayal of Franco-German rapport.Even under the shadow of the sovereign debt crisis, European integration is still the most successful regional organization with the highest integration level and the most abundant comprehensive strength. Though, EU's success is largely due to the combined effects of the regional history, geography, culture and external factors, yet high institutionalized and supranational EU institutions are also one of the distinct factors, and the most important and pivotal factor and premise should be Franco-German reconciliation and Franco-German Axis based on it.France and Germany had millennium-long bitter history of confrontation and conflicts. After World War â…¡, they decided to sink the long-term feud and hostility and instead embarked on a path of reconciliation and cooperation. The Franco-German reconciliation was the prerequisite of Western Europe unification, and contributed to the meaningful start of European integration:European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). In the1950s and1960s, the Franco-German reconciliation and cooperation gradually institutionalized. The signing of The Elysee Treaty in January1963was the beginning of the institutionalization of Franco-German reconciliation, and laid the cornerstone for Franco-German cooperation. During this period, France and Germany began to coordinate their positions on integration issues, forming the early embryo of Franco-German Axis. What's more, European integration also achieved milestones:the signing of the Treaty of Rome and the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC).In the1970s, the Franco-German reconciliation and cooperation was inherited and continued. In the period of George Pompidou and Willy Brandt, the Franco-German relationship was somehow cooling dowri, however, they contributed to the enlargement of the Community, and attempted to proceed with the European political integration and the establishing of Economic and Monetary Union. When it came to the period of Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Helmut Schmidt,"Bonn-Paris axis" became a buzzword. France and Germany reached extensive consensus on many issues of European integration, and contributed to the establishment of the Council of Europe, direct elections of the European Parliament and the establishment of the European Monetary System (EMS), which was an important step toward the European Economic and Monetary Union.Francois Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl witnessed the further development of Franco-German reconciliation, and The Elysee Treaty gained two additional protocols about Franco-German Council for Defense and Security and Franco-German Economic and Financial Council. Therefore, Franco-German Axis developed into an unprecedented degree. Drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany, which had been the most significant geopolitical changes in Europe since World War â…¡, did not stumbled the Franco-German cooperation and European integration. Franco-German Axis did not fall apart under these severe structural changes of the system and the region. Instead, it worked well as before and continued to promote the deepening and enlargement of European integration. As a result, the European Union was established, the Economic and Monetary Union took shape, and the political union was also on the agenda. Therefore, it could be inferred that France and Germany have arrived a deep level of reconciliation, and Franco-German Axis has also become a consistent core European policy of the couple, furthermore, there have been kind of "path dependency".Considering world multipolarization and the competitive pressures produced by economic globalization, the integration framework is still in line with the common interests and mutual needs of France and Germany. Under the transformational international strategic environment, France and Germany have made some adaptive adjustments to their European policies. While normalized and integrated Germany still preferred to be "European Germany", France as well continued to promote the deepening and enlargement of European integration in accordance with its national interests and strategies. EU therefore has been undergoing waves of acceleration, firstly absorbing the Central and Eastern European countries, then reforming EU institutions and mechanisms. In a giant EU with27member countries, Franco-German Axis seems relatively "small", but Franco-German duo firmly work in concert with each other to control and alleviate the catastrophe brought about by the European sovereign debt crisis since2009, through deepening and reforming of European integration such as Financial Convention and European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The importance of Franco-German Axis is still irreplaceable. The crisis is not so much as the touchstone of the Franco-German Axis, but rather provides new impetus for it.After prudent analysis of the gradual progression of Franco-German reconciliation and European integration, it can be found out that European integration is consistent with France and Germany's common interests and mutual needs from the very beginning till now. This is why the Franco-German Axis is sustained and works well, and it provides fundamental support for European integration's irreversibility. Franco-German reconciliation and Franco-German Axis in European Integration could also offer lessons and enlightment for Sino-Japanese reconciliation and East Asian regional cooperation.