Élysée Treaty

The signing of the treaty in the Salon Murat of the Élysée Palace

The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between France and West Germany, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on January 22, 1963 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germany and France established a new foundation for relations that ended centuries of rivalry between them.

Contents of the Treaty

DFG / LFA Buc in Buc, Yvelines, France was established by this treaty

The treaty called for consultations between France and West Germany on all important questions and an effort to come to a common stance. Regular summits between high-level officials were also established.

President de Gaulle intended for the treaty to make West Germany distance and eventually separate itself from its American protector. He saw West Germany (and the other member states of the European Economic Community) as vassalized by Washington. The treaty was notable in that it did not, at all, mention the U.S., Britain, NATO, or the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT).

However, after U.S. President John F. Kennedy expressed his displeasure about this to the West German ambassador to the United States, the West German parliament, the Bundestag, ratified the treaty with a preamble which called on France and West Germany to pursue tight cooperation with the U.S., for Britain's eventual admission to the EEC, for the achievement of a free trade accord in the framework of the GATT, and for the West's military integration in NATO under U.S. leadership.

DFG-LFA Freiburg in Germany, another of the treaty's French-German schools

Among the direct consequences of the Treaty are the creation of the Franco-German Office for Youth (l'Office franco-allemand pour la jeunesse/Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk), the creation of Franco-German high schools and the twinning between numerous French and German towns, schools and regions.

The first meeting between the two heads of state took place at the private home of General de Gaulle at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises in September 1958. Since then French and German heads of state have kept up this strong relationship, often considered as the engine of European integration (see Franco-German cooperation).

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty, in January 2003 new forms of bilateral coordination between the two countries were created, such as the Franco-German Ministerial Council, which meets twice a year. This celebration also led to the creation for the first time of a common Franco-German History Coursebook to be used in both countries and foster a shared vision of history.

See also

References

    External links

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