Bilateral talks between France and Germany postponed as discord builds

Germany and France have postponed until January a meeting set for next week between the two governments. Berlin says "more time" is needed to find common ground on a wide range of issues.

The delay to the regular meeting hosted alternately by Paris and Berlin has exposed a growing rift between the two EU powers, and comes as the continent is struggling to cope with an energy and cost-of-living crisis unleashed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit would not be drawn on the topics on which the governments were unable to agree, but he acknowledged that "there are a number of different issues that we are dealing with at the moment ... on which we have not yet reached a unified position."

Both sides therefore decided it was "sensible" to postpone the talks until January.

Macron, Scholz at EU summit

Scholz will nevertheless hold bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of an EU summit starting on Thursday and the two leaders may also meet next in Paris next Wednesday.

France and Germany have often tried to present a united front, but over the last weeks, criticisms have spilled out into the open on issues ranging from energy to defence.

After Scholz's government announced a €200 billion support scheme to protect German businesses and consumers from runaway energy prices, Macron warned the programme risked leading to "distortions" across the European Union.

Berlin has also been accused of blocking a cap on gas prices at an EU level because of fears the limit would remove an incentive for consumers to save energy, thereby worsening the situation.

Power supply spat

France, however – which is suffering an electricity shortage because several of its nuclear power plants are out of service – has been pushing for the cap.

Berlin is also unhappy with Paris over a lack of support for its bid to revive the so-called Midcat gas project for pipelines linking Portugal and Spain, through France to Germany.

On military issues, Germany's recent success in rallying 14 NATO members to join its air shield project has irked France which supports a separate plan.