BERLIN - France and Germany's governments kick off an unprecedented two-day retreat in Hamburg on Monday in a bid to re-set relations between the European Union's two biggest powers amid a host of disagreements on energy, industry and defence policy.
"The Franco-German relationship, and as a result Europe, is not living up to the challenges we are currently facing," said Jacob Ross at the German Council on Foreign Relations. A lack of chemistry between the charismatic Macron and tight-lipped German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also made it more difficult also for both governments to hammer out their differences, say lawmakers and diplomats.
The two-day retreat in the northern port city of Hamburg, where Scholz was mayor from 2011 to 2018, aims to put the relationship on a new footing rather than to yield concrete policy initiatives.