Overview
- Leaders at the Franco‑German ministerial council agreed to form a strategic steering group and to let the Bundeswehr take part in French nuclear deterrence exercises, signalling closer operational ties.
- President Emmanuel Macron insisted that France will continue to pay for its nuclear arsenal and that authority to order use remains with the French president.
- Jean‑Luc Mélenchon pledged to terminate the cooperation if elected, framing it as a loss of sovereignty and saying parliament was not consulted; his statement has prompted sharp criticism from other French politicians.
- Defence officials and analysts read the communique as a shift away from joint platforms toward platform‑independent or cloud‑based solutions, with Macron publicly acknowledging the failure of the FCAS fighter project and MGCS plans being scaled back.
- The decision is likely to reshape European procurement and defence ties and to become a campaign issue in 2027, changing how alliance cooperation is debated in Paris and how procurement partnerships are structured in Europe.