Germans stationed within European institutions − as much as Paris, Rome, Warsaw and The Hague themselves − had eagerly awaited their selection of a new chancellor. After the Scholz years, marked by unprecedented German inertia on the European Union (EU) stage, the victory of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate Friedrich Merz in the parliamentary elections on February 23, was greeted with immense relief. Especially as the election results suggested that the CDU and the SPD could govern together, without having to seek a third partner or convoluted agreements in the Bundestag.

To tackle its security and economic challenges, the EU has needed a Germany that is fully committed to more than just defending its own interests. Europe will be able to “count on Germany again,” said Merz during his campaign, promising to “repair the ties with its two great neighbors,” France and Poland.

His room for maneuver will depend in part on the future coalition agreement that he forges. But the future chancellor, who wants to follow “in the tradition of Helmut Kohl,” intends to make his mark on the European scene without delay. In Paris, Emmanuel Macron, who never managed to get along with current Chancellor Olaf Scholz − and who, after the failed dissolution of June 2024, has been trying to rehabilitate his image on the international stage − was delighted. In recent weeks, the two men have been engaged in a two-step that has raised hopes of restarting the French-German engine, after an unprecedented three-year standstill.

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