German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticised French defence spending on Monday, calling for Paris to do more to turn calls for European security sovereignty into concrete capabilities.
The comments marked the latest crack in relations between the two European giants.
French President Emmanuel Macron “repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty,” Wadephul told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
“Anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country.”
European NATO members are under pressure from the United States to build up their defence spending.
Though they pledged last June to raise their defence and security-related outlays to five percent of GDP by 2035, Wadephul said progress in Europe so far had been lacking.
“Unfortunately, efforts in the French Republic have also been insufficient to achieve this so far,” Wadephul said. “France, too, needs to do what we are doing here with difficult discussions.”
Germany last year exempted most defence spending from constitutionally enshrined debt limits and current budgets foresee Berlin spending more than 500 billion euros ($593 billion) on defence between 2025 and 2029.
Under financial pressure, France has less room for manoeuvre.
The country has the European Union’s third-highest debt burden as a proportion of GDP after Greece and Italy, almost twice the 60-percent ceiling set in EU treaties.
France and Macron needed to be ready to take difficult decisions, Wadephul said, including possible welfare cuts, to build the “breathing space needed”.
“That is a call that goes out to all European countries,” Wadephul said. “We will have to hold very open, very honest discussions about this here in our European family.”
– Discord over fighter jet –
Wadephul’s call comes amid strains in the Franco-German alliance, traditionally the motor of European cooperation.
Germany has slapped down Macron’s repeated calls for so-called eurobonds to boost investment, fearing common EU debt would lead to open-ended subsidies of EU member states with weak finances.
Wadephul reiterated that Germany was also opposed to the proposal when it comes to defence spending, adding that NATO member states had last year agreed to reach the five-percent spending goal by their own efforts.
“We must also say to all our European partners — in a spirit of friendship but with clarity — that what was promised, the five per cent, were commitments to national contributions,” he said.
“We are looking forward to and eagerly await another speech by the French president, I believe on the 27th of this month, where he will comment on strategic issues,” Wadephul added.
Nerves are also fraying over plans by Paris and Berlin for a next-generation European fighter jet, where German industry and unions have accused French aerospace firm Dassault of seeking to dictate the terms of the project.
In other recent disagreements, France wanted to block an EU trade deal with a group of South American countries, backed by Germany. Paris also opposed a push by Berlin and Rome to water down a planned EU ban on new petrol and diesel cars by 2035.
A European diplomat last week told AFP that right now “the Franco-German axis isn’t working”.
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