Welcome
The Commissioner for German-French Cooperation
Secretary of State for Europe Dr Anna Lührmann is the Commissioner for German-French Cooperation. She coordinates political relations with France and works towards a broad-based societal exchange between the two countries.
On the French side, this task has been carried out by Clément Beaune, Minister of State for European Affairs at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, since the end of July 2020.
On 22 January 2003, the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Élysée Treaty, the German and French Governments decided to deepen their cooperation by holding a German-French Council of Ministers on a regular basis and by appointing Commissioners for German-French Cooperation in each of the two countries. With the Treaty of Aachen, signed by Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron on 21 January 2019, this cooperation was expanded and geared to the challenges of the coming decades.
The Commissioners are responsible for coordinating German-French cooperation at the governmental level. Their work makes it possible for all the ministries to prepare joint projects that the German-French Council of Ministers can then enact.
They work to strengthen ties between the respective civil societies and also to promote cooperation between the two countries, particularly within the framework of the European Union. They are assisted by a Deputy Commissioner from the Foreign Ministry of the respective other country.
A key focus of their work is engaging in regional and cross-border cooperation. They play their part in ensuring that German-French relations are deepened at municipal and local level, too, by attending meetings in the French regions and the German Länder and maintaining contact with those responsible locally.
The Commissioners, each of whom is assisted by a Deputy Commissioner from the Foreign Ministry of the other country, work to strengthen ties between the respective civil societies and also to promote cooperation between the two countries, particularly within the framework of the European Union.
German-French cooperation
In terms of cooperation with the 28 EU member states, the Franco-German partnership holds a particularly prominent position because of its history, intensity and special institutional architecture. As part of the twelfth Franco-German Council of Ministers held in Paris on 4 February 2010, Germany and France set joint goals for deepening their cooperation in the next ten years. The Cabinets of both Governments agreed on a “German-French Agenda 2020”, with a total of 80 proposals for joint projects.
Read more about German-French cooperation here.
