EuroQuestions | “Meeting the challenges of our time the Franco-German way: an illusion?” with Yann Wernert

EuroQuestions: Season 2026, Episode 5

This event will be held in French

Date/Location: March 25, 2026, online, registration required

Title:

Meeting the challenges of our time the Franco-German way: an illusion?

Context:

In times of crisis, attention turns to the major member states, and the gaze on Paris and Berlin is a critical one. Too much turbulence, publicly displayed disagreements, too few joint initiatives: is the “Franco-German engine” up to the challenges of our time?

Franco-German tensions are set against a backdrop of major challenges affecting the very foundations of European security and the economy: the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, customs chaos, and a highly turbulent transatlantic relationship. These challenges expose and reinforce existing vulnerabilities.

This EuroQuestions session aims to provide an analysis to identify upcoming Franco-German common positions and areas for joint action, to highlight the existing capacities on both sides of the Rhine to strengthen Europe’s standing, and to gauge both governments’ current willingness to make progress, as well as the margins for compromise that are acceptable and achievable in moving forward together.

Key questions to explore:

• What are the concrete priorities on which Paris and Berlin have both the ambition and the means to act together today?
• Is external pressure pushing the two countries toward unity or division?
• Are the domestic political and economic constraints in France and Germany currently hindering rapprochement between the two countries?

Speaker Bio:

Our guest speaker is Yann Wernert. He is a Policy Fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre in Berlin, the sister institute of the Institut Jacques Delors, where he works in particular on issues related to Franco-German relations. As a Franco-German national who has lived on both sides of the Rhine, he also brings a particularly valuable and insightful perspective on this relationship.

What are EuroQuestions? 

EuroQuestions are sessions held twice a month in the form of 30-minute online exchanges, bringing together a moderator (Ms. Christine Verger or Mr. William Malaterre) and a guest speaker to discuss European issues. These sessions take place on Wednesdays, from 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM. The speaker is generally given a presentation time of approximately 15/20 minutes, followed by a 10/15-minute exchange with the moderator.