Michael Link, Minister of State-designate at the Federal Foreign Office, and Jean Leonetti, French European Affairs Minister, will meet in Berlin on 24 January to mark “Franco-German Day”.

Their talks on the occasion will focus on current issues on the bilateral and European agenda as well as on ways to overcome the debt crisis in the eurozone and strengthen economic convergence in the EU.

Following these political talks, Michael Link and Jean Leonetti will together attend the celebrations for the annual “Franco-German Day”, which this year is highlighting young people, vocational training and economic cooperation.

Within the framework of the discovery day organized by the Franco-German Youth Office, Michael Link and Jean Leonetti will be visiting a hydrogen filling station operated under the “Clean Energy Partnership” and debating renewable energy and career opportunities with pupils from Berlin schools.

At an event at the Federal Foreign Office, Michael Link and Jean Leonetti will discuss Franco-German relations and current European issues with school pupils and students.

To conclude their programme for the day, Michael Link and Jean Leonetti will be presenting the Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize to Edzard Reuter and Jean François‑Poncet, who will accept the award on behalf of the Franco-German Encounters in Evian, which were established in 1992. This is an annual forum for dialogue for leading figures from the French and German business worlds.

The Franco-German prize was initiated by the two Governments on the occasion of the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty in Paris on 22 January 1988 and has since been awarded annually on “Franco-German Day”.