Overview

• They convened on July 23 at Villa Borsig to reaffirm their central role in EU policy against looming U.S. tariffs and the Ukraine war.
• The meeting featured discussions on bolstering NATO security, including France’s offer of peacekeepers for a potential Ukraine ceasefire, which Berlin has not yet embraced.
• Merz pressed for a swift US-EU trade agreement by the August 1 deadline to avert 30 percent tariffs, while Macron resisted Mercosur and secured agricultural safeguard clauses.
• Persistent disagreements over a next-generation European fighter jet project threaten to stall efforts to reduce dependence on U.S. F-35s.
• Rising far-right opposition in both countries and the looming 2027 French election are narrowing the window for meaningful Franco-German compromises.