Germany and France eye relaunch of European electricity market integration
Handelsblatt
France and Germany are preparing a relaunch of their cooperation on energy policy, competitiveness, and technology for when conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz has formed his new coalition government, newspaper Handelsblatt reported. According to the article, Merz had already been in contact with French president Emmanuel Macron on a wide range of initiatives several weeks before his conservative CDU/CSU alliance emerged as the largest party in February’s national election.
On energy policy, the two countries are expected to give a boost to the joint European electricity market, with greater emphasis on the contribution that France’s nuclear power plant fleet can make. For businesses, Paris and Berlin plan to relax EU regulation and cut red tape, including on climate protection, Handelsblatt reported. It added that this could affect the planned ban on new combustion engine car registrations by 2035, of which Merz’s CDU/CSU has been a longstanding critic. Other areas of intensified cooperation would include artificial intelligence and space travel. In an interview with Handelsblatt, Merz had said he would seek “a further integration of the internal market and a capital market union,” adding that his efforts in this respect also included tighter cooperation with Poland.
The renewed initiative for closer cooperation between the EU's two largest member states, also known as the bloc's ‘Franco-German engine,’ comes at a time of unprecedented transatlantic tensions between the US and the EU over a wide range of issues, including security policy, trade, and technology transfers. Relations between Paris and Berlin were bumpy during the tenure of outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose three-party coalition was seen as indecisive in European issues. CDU politician Johann Wadepuhl told Handelsblatt that the French government had reacted “extraordinarily positively” to the signals for closer cooperation sent by Merz, underlining the two countries “determination to French-German coordination,” in particular with respect to European security.
The EU, alongside a handful of neighbouring countries, has worked for decades on its vision to have electricity flow freely across borders at all times, for example by connecting different power markets together, building cross-border grid capacity, jointly planning projects, and harmonising rules. While there is already a single European power market, pursuing deeper integration is an ongoing project, and the union will have to address pressing challenges arising from this interdependence or risk the project stalling, say experts.
