Franco-German Ministerial Council

The Franco-German Ministerial Council (French Conseil des ministres franco-allemands, German Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat) is the regular meeting of the ministerial cabinet of both the government of Germany and the government of France. The joint ministerial council is held approximately twice a year—in spring and autumn.

History

The Franco-German Ministerial Council replaces the regular summits of the heads of state of France and Germany as designated in the Élysée Treaty of 1963. During the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty it was decided to put the ministerial staff into regular direct contact. It is the duty of the respective foreign ministers to prepare the ministerial council.

The Franco-German anniversary declaration of 22 January 2003 also includes sections to put councils at regional level in direct contact. The annual summits of the heads of state of France and Germany had already been replaced by Blaesheim Process with regular meetings every six to eight weeks named after the little town Blaesheim near Strasbourg where the first meeting was held on 31 January 2001.[1][2]

The joint ministerial council represents another step in the Franco-German integration —the original Elysee Treaty of 1963 saw the creation of a student exchange office (Office franco-allemand pour la jeunesse - OFAJ / Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk - DFJW)[3] that was extended into a joint council on cultural exchange in 1988 (Haut-Conseil culturel franco-allemand - HCCFA / Deutsch-Französischer Kulturrat - DFKR).[4] On the 22nd anniversary of the Elysee Treaty (22 January 1988) a joint council on economic affairs was created (Conseil économique et financier franco-allemand - CEFFA / Deutsch-französischer Finanz- und Wirtschaftsrat - DFFWR) organising meetings of the ministers of finance about four times a year[5] and a joint council on security affairs was created (Conseil franco-allemand de défense et de sécurité - CFADS / Deutsch-Französischer Verteidigungs- und Sicherheitsrat - DFVSR) organising meetings of the ministers of external affairs and the military about twice a year.[6] An annual joint ministerial council on environment protection (Conseil franco-allemand de l’environnement - CFAE / Deutsch-Französischer Umweltrat) was first held on 13 February 1990 following a resolution of the ministerial consultations on 2 November 1989.[7][8]

On the 50th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty a declaration was resolved by the Franco-German Ministerial Council on 22 January 2013 that named a number of joint Franco-German committees reporting to the national ministers.[4] After that point the joint ministerial council meetings turned to an annual interval.

Timeline

The joint ministerial meeting of the 22. January 2003 in Paris is counted as the 1. Franco-German Ministerial Council.

  • 2. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 18 September 2003 in Berlin
  • 3. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 13 May 2004 in Paris
  • 4. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 26 October 2004 in Berlin
  • 5. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 26 April 2005 in Paris
  • 6. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 14 March 2006 in Berlin
  • 7. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 12 October 2006 in Paris
  • 8. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 12 November 2007 in Berlin
  • 9. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 9. June 2008 in Straubing (D)
  • 10. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 24 November 2008 in Paris
  • 11. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 12 March 2009 in Berlin
  • 12. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 4 February 2010 in Paris
  • 13. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 10 December 2010 in Freiburg (D)
  • 14. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 6 February 2012 in Paris
  • 15. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 22 January 2013 in Berlin
  • 16. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 19 February 2014 in Paris
  • 17. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 31 March 2015 in Berlin
  • 18. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 7 April 2016 in Metz (F)
  • 19. Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat, 13 July 2017 in Paris

Due to federal elections in Germany the meetings were skipped in autumn 2005, autumn 2009 and autumn 2013. Due to the presidential election and parliamentary election in France in Spring 2017, the annual council was moved to July 2017.[9][10]

The 2013 meeting was held on 22 January 2013 in Berlin alongside the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty with a joint ministerial council and a joint parliamentary assembly of the French National Assembly and the German Bundestag at the Reichstag building in Berlin.[9][10]

Trivia

There is no official English title of the conference as all documents are handled in French and German only. The writers of the foreign minister in Germany choose Franco-German Council of Ministers[11] in summary notes. Reports being handed over from the working groups to the EU have chosen Franco-German Ministerial Council being a more direct (word by word) translation.[12] The meeting themselves are referred to as the annual Franco-German Summit.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.france-allemagne.fr/Erstes-Blaesheim-Treffen-Deutsch,383.html
  2. ↑ Blaesheim was chosen as being the location of the first non-official meeting of heads of states - Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and Helmut Schmidt - that occurred on 19. July 1977 at the Hotel Au Boeuf in Blaesheim.
  3. ↑ http://www.elysee50.de/Office-franco-allemand-pour-la,0269.html
  4. 1 2 http://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/Pressemitteilungen/BPA/2013/01/2013-01-22-deu-franz-erlkaerung.html%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  5. ↑ http://www.elysee50.de/Le-Conseil-economique-et-financier,0276.html
  6. ↑ http://www.elysee50.de/Le-Conseil-franco-allemand-de,275.html
  7. ↑ http://www.elysee50.de/Le-Conseil-franco-allemand-de-l,0277.html
  8. ↑ http://www.bmu.de/detailansicht/artikel/deutsch-franzoesischer-umweltrat/
  9. 1 2 "50 Jahre Élysée-Vertrag – Deutschland und Frankreich feiern". 50 Jahre Élysée-Vertrag - joint project of auswaertiges-amt.de / www.diplomatie.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2013-01-27. Neben einem Deutsch-Französischen Jubiläums-Ministerrat finden am 22. Januar gemeinsame Sitzungen der Parlamente [..] statt
  10. 1 2 "Les 50 ans du Traité de l'Elysée, programme officiel". 50 Jahre Élysée-Vertrag - joint project of auswaertiges-amt.de / www.diplomatie.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved 2013-01-27. Mardi 22 janvier, le 15ème Conseil des ministres franco-allemand se tient à la Chancellerie fédérale. Le même jour [...] le Bundestag [...] délégation de parlementaires et sénateurs français [...] tient une séance plénière.
  11. ↑ "France and Germany stand united". German Government. 2015-03-31. |
  12. ↑ "Monitoring economic performance, quality of life and sustainability - Joint Report as Requested by the Franco-German Ministerial Council" (PDF). cae.gouv.fr - French Council of Economic Analysis. December 2010.
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