Today's Date:

On 22 and 23 January this year, Germany and France are together going to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the signing of the Elysée Treaty under which the two countries, ending an age-old rivalry, sealed their reconciliation and together embarked on close and ambitious cooperation to support and continue building the European enterprise.

The initiative taken by General de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was an act of courage and vision. With hindsight, we can see its full historical dimension. These two very great Statesmen enabled our two countries to break the vicious circle of confrontation, hatred and desire for revenge by urging them clear-sightedly to realize their common destiny. Following the path they had thus mapped out, Germany and France, step by step, learned to understand each other, work together and forge ties of genuine solidarity.

This cooperation has achieved an unequalled and unprecedented quality. Thanks to the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ – Office franco-allemand pour la Jeunesse), hundreds of thousands of the two countries' young people, pupils and students have discovered and appreciated the qualities of their neighbours. Thanks to the Franco-German university (Université franco-allemande [a network of French and German higher-education establishments created in 1999, with many campuses and an administrative headquarters in Saarbrücken]) there are now integrated binational degree courses. The number of twinnings between local authorities has risen. Our soldiers have forged an active, strong friendship through the highly symbolic constitution of a Franco-German brigade, which itself paved the way for the subsequent creation of the European Corps. The Franco-German television channel ARTE has created an exceptional medium of communication between our two countries which must jointly contribute to a European project cemented by the richness of their cultures.

Some seem tempted to think that the task is now complete. For others, Germany and France will never be more than simple partners in an enlarged European Union.

Personally, I am convinced that quite the opposite is true, that the new realities of today's Europe and the challenges it has to take up justify not only maintaining, but also strengthening Franco-German friendship and cooperation, because we share a joint responsibility to support and continue building Europe.

Indeed, the enlargement is a window of opportunity since it opens up fresh horizons for the EU, new areas of activity, prospects of new exchanges between people. But it is a challenge and a responsibility too, since it is going radically to change the EU's very nature.

An enlarged Europe with 25 members in 2005, then 27 in 2007 will be more diverse, but also inevitably more unwieldy, less homogenous. It will find it more difficult to affirm its cohesion and defend common interests abroad. It is the responsibility of Germany and France, founding nations of the European project, located geographically and influence-wise at the centre of the new Europe, to define together the compromises through which Europe can strengthen its cohesion and its ability to take action and determine its future.

The combined strength of Germany and France may not always be enough to overcome the difficulties Europe encounters on its path, but experience has proved that no European project has any chance of success if France and Germany do not determinedly carry it forward together.

It is by shouldering this common responsibility that our two countries have, over the years, permitted Europe's major advances: freedom of movement in the Schengen Area, single market, creation of the euro. In the political declaration to be adopted in Paris to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Elysée Treaty we shall be affirming our common determination to go further and fulfil the expectations our two countries' citizens and our partners place in our joint action.

Germany and France must together ensure the completion of the reform of the European institutions and success of the Convention which, next summer, will propose a draft Constitution for Europe. This is a new ambition which must lead us genuinely to the rebuilding of Europe on new foundations.

Through this reform, we wish to lay the foundations of a stronger, more democratic, transparent, mutually-supportive and efficient EU, enjoying greater credibility in the international arena. The EU's institutions must be vested with a greater ability to act, and a greater guarantee of accountability and stability.

Germany and France must jointly work for the establishment of a European defence capability and, to this end, we have proposed creating a European Security and Defence Union. We are also resolved to strengthen Europe as an area of freedom, security and justice, and develop our cooperation in the face of the new threats like terrorism.

More generally, our two countries must together help remove the obstacles which at the practical level still maintain barriers between people in a Europe which must, above all, be that of its citizens.

Germany and France will fulfil their role together in this new stage of building Europe only if they first strengthen further their bilateral cooperation. From now on, our two governments must be able to hold joint Councils of Ministers, and individual ministers systematically to organize cooperation with their opposite numbers. The desire to increase our citizens' involvement in what we do will also require us to consult each other more closely when drawing up our national legislation and so for this purpose step up the dialogue between our two parliaments. We shall have to reduce and ultimately end the continuing difficulties faced by citizens whose professional, family and personal lives are shared between the two countries.

Germany and France's experiences and what they have been subjected to in their past history are unique. Originators of the European idea, they are today called on to take action which will enable Europe to scale new heights by both extending its borders and bringing our Union closer to its citizens' hearts. It is definitely a fresh start that the two governments and representatives of the two parliaments will together be making on 22 and 23 January. I am convinced that Germans and French have more great chapters of Europe's history to write together./.