Aachen Treaty
The Aachen Treaty, formally Treaty on Franco-German Cooperation and Integration, and also known as the Treaty of Aachen (German: Aachener Vertrag, Vertrag von Aachen, French: Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle), is a bilateral agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic, which entered into force on 22 January 2020, a year after it was signed.[1] It was signed by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron in the coronation hall of the Aachen City Hall on 22 January 2019.
| German: Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Französischen Republik über die deutsch-französische Zusammenarbeit und Integration French: Traité entre la République française et la République fédérale d'Allemagne sur la coopération et l'intégration franco-allemandes). | |
|---|---|
 Town Hall of Aachen where the treaty was signed. | |
| Signed | 22 January 2019 |
| Location | Aachen, Germany |
| Effective | 22 January 2020 |
| Signatories | |
| Parties | 2 |
| Language | French and German |
| Full text | |
 Aachen Treaty at Wikisource | |
History
The proposal for a renewal of the Élysée Treaty was first made by Emmanuel Macron on 26 September 2017 in his speech at the Sorbonne.[2] At the 55th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty, both Macron and Angela Merkel again spoke out in favour of deepening the cooperation in business, society, politics and technology.[3]
The coronation hall of the historic Aachen City Hall was chosen for the signing of the new treaty by President Macron and Chancellor Merkel on the Franco-German Day (22 January 2019), the 56th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty, because Aachen, as the main residence of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), represents a common history.[4]
Besides Macron and Merkel the ceremony was also attended by other high-ranking politicians, f.e. Klaus Johannis (President of Romania, chairing the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2019), Jean-Claude Juncker (European Commission President), Donald Tusk (President of the European Council) and Armin Laschet (Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia).[5]
Contents
The Aachen Treaty consists of a total of 28 articles. The six main chapters of the treaty are labeled:
- European affairs
- Peace, security and development
- Culture, education, research and mobility
- Regional and transnational cooperation
- Sustainable development, climate, environment and economic affairs
- Organization
Among other topics the aim of the contract is to strengthen the cultural diversity (§9) as well as to align security interests of both countries. The Goethe-Institut and the Institut Français plan to jointly open cultural institutions in Erbil, Bishkek, Rio de Janeiro and Palermo on the basis of the Aachen Treaty.[6]
In addition, the contract aims to intensify the cooperation of the defense politics of both countries, including the mutual assistance in potential crisis situations.[7]
The treaty was a factor in the formation of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.[8]
Critique
Several criticisms have been heard since the creation of the Treaty:
- Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National party stated that the Aachen Treaty would give Alsace to Germany, and that France would share its seat in the UN Security Council with Germany.[9] The claims were refuted by the Élysée Palace[10] and by the newspapers Le Monde[11] and La Croix.[12]
References
- étrangères, Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires. "Franco-German Treaty of Aachen". France Diplomacy - Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
- "Merkel und Macron: Neuer Freundschaftsvertrag in Aachen" (in German). Die Welt. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
- "Deutsch-französische Freundschaft: Neuer Élysée-Vertrag soll noch dieses Jahr kommen" (in German). Handelsblatt. 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
- "Vertrag von Aachen: Merkel und Macron besiegeln Freundschaftspakt" (in German) (Collective ed.). Spiegel Online. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
- "Vertrag von Aachen unterzeichnet". Tagesschau.de (in German). Tagesschau. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "Aachener Vertrag: Einrichtung deutsch-französischer Kulturinstitute". goethe.de (in German). Goethe-Institut. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
- "Unterzeichnung in Aachen: "Unterwerfung eingeleitet": Warum manche Franzosen Vertrag mit Deutschland fürchten". focus.de (in German). Focus. January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
- "'Historic day' - French-German parliament meets". BBC News. 2019-03-25. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
- Quintin, Béatrice (2019-03-15). "Intox Marine Le Pen réitère ses contre-vérités sur les migrants et le traité d'Aix-La Chapelle" [Propaganda: Marine Le Pen reiterates its untruths about migrants and the Treaty of Aachen]. La Voix du Nord (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-22.
- "Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle : non, l'Alsace et la Moselle ne seront pas livrées à l'Allemagne" [Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle: no, Alsace and Moselle will not be delivered to Germany]. Midi Libre (in French). 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
- "Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle: les élucubrations de Marine Le Pen et Nicolas Dupont-Aignan" [Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle: the rantings of Marine Le Pen and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan]. Le Monde (in French). 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
- François, Jean-Baptiste (2019-01-17). "Une avalanche de fake-news contre le traité franco-allemand" [An avalanche of fake-news against the Franco-German treaty]. La Croix (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-21.
Further reading
- Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Französischen Republik über die deutsch-französische Zusammenarbeit und Integration (PDF) (in German). 2019-01-22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
- "Signature d'un nouveau traité de coopération et d'intégration franco-allemand" (in French). 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-31. (NB. Contains the full text of the Traité entre la République française et la République fédérale d’Allemagne sur la coopération et l’intégration franco-allemandes.)