The Aachen Treaty, formally Treaty on Franco-German Cooperation and Integration, and also known as the Treaty of Aachen (german: Aachener Vertrag, german: Vertrag von Aachen, label=none, link=no, french: Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle), is a

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

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. It was signed by Federal Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Emmanuel Macron in the coronation hall of the

Aachen City Hall Aachen Town Hall (''German:'' "Rathaus") is a landmark of cultural significance located in the ''Altstadt'' of Aachen, Germany. It was built in the Gothic architecture style in the first half of the 14th century. History Aachen Town Hall was b ...

on 22 January 2019.

History

The proposal for a renewal of the

Élysée Treaty The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between France and West Germany, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on 22 January 1963 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germa ...

was first made by Emmanuel Macron on 26 September 2017 in his . 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. The coronation hall of the historic

was chosen for the signing of the new treaty by President Macron and Chancellor Merkel on the (22 January 2019), the 56th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty, because Aachen, as the main residence of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

(Charles the Great), represents a common history. Besides Macron and Merkel the ceremony was also attended by other high-ranking politicians, f.e. Klaus Johannis (President of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, chairing the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

in the first half of 2019),

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...

(

European Commission President The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...

( President of the European Council) and

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 to 3 ...

(

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

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 The Institut Français (French capitalization, Institut français; "French institute") is a French Établissements publics à caractère industriel et commercial, public industrial and commercial organization (EPIC). Started in 1907 by the Min ...

plan to jointly open cultural institutions in Erbil, Bishkek,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

and Palermo on the basis of the Aachen Treaty. In addition, the contract aims to intensify the cooperation of the defense politics of both countries, including the mutual assistance in potential crisis situations. The treaty was a factor in the formation of the

Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly The Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly (french: Assemblée parlementaire franco-allemande; german: Deutsch-Französische Parlamentarische Versammlung, ''DFPV'') is a joint body of the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly formed to ...

Critique

Several criticisms have been heard since the creation of the Treaty: *The National Rally stated that the Aachen Treaty would give

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and that

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

would share its seat in the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

with Germany. The claims were refuted by the Élysée Palace and by the newspapers ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' and ''

La Croix La Croix primarily refers to: * ''La Croix'' (newspaper), a French Catholic newspaper * La Croix Sparkling Water, a beverage distributed by the National Beverage Corporation La Croix or Lacroix may also refer to: Places * Lacroix-Barrez, a muni ...

''.

History

Contents

Critique

See also

References

Further reading