France and Germany Fifty Years after the Élysée Treaty

In: German politics and society, Band 31, Heft 1, S. iv-viii

Abstract

The Élysée Treaty turned fifty on 22 January 2013—signed in 1963between France and Germany, under the watchful eyes of French PresidentCharles de Gaulle and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.Although celebrated every decade, this particular anniversary comes at acrucial time in the countries' bilateral relationship. After a few tumultuousyears of disagreement and distance between Paris and Berlin over seriouseconomic and foreign policy issues, German Chancellor Angela Merkeland French President François Hollande have seized the opportunity ofthe year-long anniversary calendar to work on political rapprochement, inthe spirit of one of the original purposes of the Treaty itself.