Boost for Franco-German 'engine'

mkpdavies · 20-07-2005, 09:18 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4695943.stm

Quote:

The German opposition leader, Angela Merkel, has said the Franco-German alliance must remain the engine of progress in the European Union.
"All initiatives taken must be open to all European countries, but France and Germany must be the engine of these initiatives," she said in Paris.

Which should be our cue to exit. Why ride in the broken down old Skoda, when there are much nicer reliable cars we could use?

Quote:

"We need to talk about the limits of enlargement. We need borders. People need to know where these borders are," she said.

Can't argue there. The British Isles looks like a nice border to me.

Quote:

Some other countries in the enlarged EU have resented what they have seen as particularly French condescension, our correspondent reports.

UK ministers are openly hoping that, with new leadership in Germany, and then possibly France, the motor could begin powering in a new, more anglocentric direction, he adds.

Can't see France nor Germany going for it. They have it very cushy in a lot of ways, they are not going to want to give that up without a fight.

Britannist · 20-07-2005, 11:53 AM

Britannist writes: The Franco-German ‘alliance’ is a sham. Neither country actually ‘likes’ each other. Very few Germans bother to learn French (who can blame them). Hardly any French people study German. Both Germans and French learn English in large numbers. Both prefer contemporary British culture and music to each others. The Germans don’t need the French any more – only the French have not fully realised this. But the diplomatic services of both countries will try to keep the so-called alliance between the two nations going for as long as they can. Their jobs and and salaries depend on it.

GERMAN NEWSPAPER WELCOMES DOWNGRADE OF FRANCO-GERMAN LINK

The head of the ‘Conservative’ opposition CDU/CSU in Germany, Angela Merkel (who is currently leading in opinion polls – ahead of Germany’s expected Autumn 2005 national election) has held a meeting in Berlin with Nicolas Sarkozy (rival to Chirac for the Conservative candidacy for the 2007 French Presidential election).

Germany’s top newspaper, Die Welt (whose correspondent in London, Thomas Kielinger, is a sound chap who has said that “the EU cannot ‘continentalise’ the UK) wrote of the meeting between Frau Merkel and M. Sarkozy (in its edition of 20.7.2005):

“Mrs. Merkel has made it clear that the Franco-German axis is less important than europe as a whole. We approve of this trend. The Paris-Berlin alliance has achieved little recently.”

GERMANY’S EXTERNAL SERVICE SAYS GERMANY-FRANCE “GROWING APART”

The following is an article published by Deutsche Welle on 2.7.2005. Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international radio and television service (one of the five biggest in the world in audience figures):

Article title: “When love across the border fades” 2.7.2005

The tight-knit Franco-German relationship has been frayed following France's rejection of the EU constitution. But the chinks aren't just confined to politics. Even the people of France and Germany are drawing apart.

Britain, which has taken over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, wants Brussels to tackle unemployment in the way that has been successfully tried in Britain and to shift spending from farmers towards research and development.

France has already said that it will try and block these reforms.

But, while in the past, Paris would have been able to count on the automatic support of Germany, the long alliance between these two core founding members of the EU has been weakened by the emphatic French rejection of the European constitution.

PERSONAL PROBLEMS?

Perhaps more worrying still for those who dream of a strong, centralized EU, the people of France and Germany seem to be drawing not closer together but further apart.

Every year, 200,000 young people are ferried from France to Germany and from Germany to France on exchange programmes run by the Franco-German Youth Office.

France is the biggest market for German goods and vice versa. Even the head of Airbus is German. On the face of it, the Franco-German relationship seems a model of European integration.

But all is not well in the couple life of France and Germany. There are growing signs that the cozy relationship portrayed between the leaders of the two neighbours in the past isn't shared by the people on the ground.

The problem, says Paris-based political scientist Hans Stark, is French "ennui."

The French are less interested in Germany, Stark said. "That's because they are not scared about Germany any more. German theatre, German literature, German classical music is less attractive for a broad spectrum of society. So, for them, Germany is a country which is very, very far away."

NO TAKERS FOR DEUTSCH

A further measure of the widening distance between the two peoples is the falling popularity of the German language in France.

This spring a rather desperate television advertisement trying to lure the French to learn Deutsch -- featuring pink Birkenstock sandals, kinky lederhosen and a beautiful, blond German teacher -- illustrated that the German language is in a crisis in France.
Indeed, German is hardly heard on the streets in France, except maybe among tourists in Paris.

A recent report commissioned by the French government shows that in just five years, the percentage of French children learning German in state schools has dropped from 30 to 10 percent.

According to the report's Franco-German author Heinz Wismann, German is fast becoming like Latin -- dead for all but a tiny elite.

"We have more and more private schools where people from the higher classes of society send their children," said Wismann. "And there, they learn German, they learn Latin. Greek and Latin and German --it's become the secret sign of belonging to the higher classes in France."

GERMAN FOOD TOO FATTY FOR REFINED FRENCH

And it's not just the German language that is becoming such a rarity in France. Even German food hardly has any takers any more.

Gerhard Weber, the head chef at the Stubli, Paris's one and only German restaurant, uses traditional German ingredients to make a new German cuisine. But, he says, French attitudes haven't much changed since Napoleon's first encounter with black German bread.

"When Napoleon arrived in Germany he asked people 'bread?' so they give him black bread," said Weber. "Napoleon looked at the black bread and said
"that's bon pour Nickel" because his horse was called Nickel. Germans understand 'bon pour Nickel'... pumpernickel. So today the black bread's called pumpernickel."

Weber said that the French still harbor stereotypes when it comes to German food. "They think German food is too fat... only sauerkraut, sausage -- and it's all heavy."

Heavy or 'lourd' is an often used pejorative term in French meaning clumsy, slow, boring and stupid. Light or 'léger', on the other hand, means subtle, quick, witty and bright. The idea that French is 'léger' and German is 'lourd' seems to be deeply ingrained in the French psyche.

It applies to people, food and to books too, it seems.

Giesla Kaufmann, who runs a little German bookshop housing recent literature, most of it translated in French, in the artsy Parisian quarter of Montmartre, confirms that the French are largely oblivious to developments in the German literary world.

"Go INTO phpbb_a French bookshop and the owner probably knows some German authors," said Kaufmann. "But it wouldn't occur to most people to read a German book. They think it's either going to be some impenetrable work of philosophy or about Nazism. Either way, a pain."

GLOBALIZATION PART OF THE PROBLEM

The reasons for the diminishing importance of German and Germany in France may not be evident. But some think it's fallout from the march of globalization.

For the Franco-German linguist Heinz Wismann, Europe in general and France in particular are going through a period of national retrenchment in reaction to what many see as the threat of global markets and global culture.

German culture may be the antithesis of the dumbed-down culture that sells across the globe. But, the French are closing themselves off to it nevertheless. As a consequence, ignorance about Germany is on the rise.

"The French have this Prussian image of Germany. For example, French schoolchildren who have been sent to Germany on exchange programs are amazed to find that German schools are much less disciplined than in France," said Kaufmann. "French schools are much more rigid but the French don't know it."

Whatever the reason, it's plain that the French are not burning with curiosity about its Eastern neighbour any more.

Telling statistics compiled by the French foreign ministry on the number of its nationals who have gone to live abroad show that there are now nearly three times more French people living in Britain than in Germany. That is despite the much stronger business links between Germany and France.

There's little doubt that no matter how many German washing machines the French buy and treaties they sign or how many government initiatives push them towards their bigger neighbour -- Germany is slipping from the French national consciousness.

BRITANNIST WRITES: I’ve had to correct certain spelling in the above article because it was, quite disgracefully, written in slang (i.e. what is known as ‘American English’). I’ve taken out as much of this so-called ‘American English’ as I have had the time this morning to find. It’s good of Deutsche Welle to publish such an item. It proves that they are not totally under the control of Germany’s pro-French ruling ‘elite’.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

20-07-2005, 11:53 AM	#2 (permalink)
Britannist Uber Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London Posts: 22,896	Britannist writes: The Franco-German ‘alliance’ is a sham. Neither country actually ‘likes’ each other. Very few Germans bother to learn French (who can blame them). Hardly any French people study German. Both Germans and French learn English in large numbers. Both prefer contemporary British culture and music to each others. The Germans don’t need the French any more – only the French have not fully realised this. But the diplomatic services of both countries will try to keep the so-called alliance between the two nations going for as long as they can. Their jobs and and salaries depend on it. GERMAN NEWSPAPER WELCOMES DOWNGRADE OF FRANCO-GERMAN LINK The head of the ‘Conservative’ opposition CDU/CSU in Germany, Angela Merkel (who is currently leading in opinion polls – ahead of Germany’s expected Autumn 2005 national election) has held a meeting in Berlin with Nicolas Sarkozy (rival to Chirac for the Conservative candidacy for the 2007 French Presidential election). Germany’s top newspaper, Die Welt (whose correspondent in London, Thomas Kielinger, is a sound chap who has said that “the EU cannot ‘continentalise’ the UK) wrote of the meeting between Frau Merkel and M. Sarkozy (in its edition of 20.7.2005): “Mrs. Merkel has made it clear that the Franco-German axis is less important than europe as a whole. We approve of this trend. The Paris-Berlin alliance has achieved little recently.” GERMANY’S EXTERNAL SERVICE SAYS GERMANY-FRANCE “GROWING APART” The following is an article published by Deutsche Welle on 2.7.2005. Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international radio and television service (one of the five biggest in the world in audience figures): Article title: “When love across the border fades” 2.7.2005 The tight-knit Franco-German relationship has been frayed following France's rejection of the EU constitution. But the chinks aren't just confined to politics. Even the people of France and Germany are drawing apart. Britain, which has taken over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, wants Brussels to tackle unemployment in the way that has been successfully tried in Britain and to shift spending from farmers towards research and development. France has already said that it will try and block these reforms. But, while in the past, Paris would have been able to count on the automatic support of Germany, the long alliance between these two core founding members of the EU has been weakened by the emphatic French rejection of the European constitution. PERSONAL PROBLEMS? Perhaps more worrying still for those who dream of a strong, centralized EU, the people of France and Germany seem to be drawing not closer together but further apart. Every year, 200,000 young people are ferried from France to Germany and from Germany to France on exchange programmes run by the Franco-German Youth Office. France is the biggest market for German goods and vice versa. Even the head of Airbus is German. On the face of it, the Franco-German relationship seems a model of European integration. But all is not well in the couple life of France and Germany. There are growing signs that the cozy relationship portrayed between the leaders of the two neighbours in the past isn't shared by the people on the ground. The problem, says Paris-based political scientist Hans Stark, is French "ennui." The French are less interested in Germany, Stark said. "That's because they are not scared about Germany any more. German theatre, German literature, German classical music is less attractive for a broad spectrum of society. So, for them, Germany is a country which is very, very far away." NO TAKERS FOR DEUTSCH A further measure of the widening distance between the two peoples is the falling popularity of the German language in France. This spring a rather desperate television advertisement trying to lure the French to learn Deutsch -- featuring pink Birkenstock sandals, kinky lederhosen and a beautiful, blond German teacher -- illustrated that the German language is in a crisis in France. Indeed, German is hardly heard on the streets in France, except maybe among tourists in Paris. A recent report commissioned by the French government shows that in just five years, the percentage of French children learning German in state schools has dropped from 30 to 10 percent. According to the report's Franco-German author Heinz Wismann, German is fast becoming like Latin -- dead for all but a tiny elite. "We have more and more private schools where people from the higher classes of society send their children," said Wismann. "And there, they learn German, they learn Latin. Greek and Latin and German --it's become the secret sign of belonging to the higher classes in France." GERMAN FOOD TOO FATTY FOR REFINED FRENCH And it's not just the German language that is becoming such a rarity in France. Even German food hardly has any takers any more. Gerhard Weber, the head chef at the Stubli, Paris's one and only German restaurant, uses traditional German ingredients to make a new German cuisine. But, he says, French attitudes haven't much changed since Napoleon's first encounter with black German bread. "When Napoleon arrived in Germany he asked people 'bread?' so they give him black bread," said Weber. "Napoleon looked at the black bread and said "that's bon pour Nickel" because his horse was called Nickel. Germans understand 'bon pour Nickel'... pumpernickel. So today the black bread's called pumpernickel." Weber said that the French still harbor stereotypes when it comes to German food. "They think German food is too fat... only sauerkraut, sausage -- and it's all heavy." Heavy or 'lourd' is an often used pejorative term in French meaning clumsy, slow, boring and stupid. Light or 'léger', on the other hand, means subtle, quick, witty and bright. The idea that French is 'léger' and German is 'lourd' seems to be deeply ingrained in the French psyche. It applies to people, food and to books too, it seems. Giesla Kaufmann, who runs a little German bookshop housing recent literature, most of it translated in French, in the artsy Parisian quarter of Montmartre, confirms that the French are largely oblivious to developments in the German literary world. "Go INTO phpbb_a French bookshop and the owner probably knows some German authors," said Kaufmann. "But it wouldn't occur to most people to read a German book. They think it's either going to be some impenetrable work of philosophy or about Nazism. Either way, a pain." GLOBALIZATION PART OF THE PROBLEM The reasons for the diminishing importance of German and Germany in France may not be evident. But some think it's fallout from the march of globalization. For the Franco-German linguist Heinz Wismann, Europe in general and France in particular are going through a period of national retrenchment in reaction to what many see as the threat of global markets and global culture. German culture may be the antithesis of the dumbed-down culture that sells across the globe. But, the French are closing themselves off to it nevertheless. As a consequence, ignorance about Germany is on the rise. "The French have this Prussian image of Germany. For example, French schoolchildren who have been sent to Germany on exchange programs are amazed to find that German schools are much less disciplined than in France," said Kaufmann. "French schools are much more rigid but the French don't know it." Whatever the reason, it's plain that the French are not burning with curiosity about its Eastern neighbour any more. Telling statistics compiled by the French foreign ministry on the number of its nationals who have gone to live abroad show that there are now nearly three times more French people living in Britain than in Germany. That is despite the much stronger business links between Germany and France. There's little doubt that no matter how many German washing machines the French buy and treaties they sign or how many government initiatives push them towards their bigger neighbour -- Germany is slipping from the French national consciousness. BRITANNIST WRITES: I’ve had to correct certain spelling in the above article because it was, quite disgracefully, written in slang (i.e. what is known as ‘American English’). I’ve taken out as much of this so-called ‘American English’ as I have had the time this morning to find. It’s good of Deutsche Welle to publish such an item. It proves that they are not totally under the control of Germany’s pro-French ruling ‘elite’.