TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu A1 - Heimbach, Henriette T1 - Time to unlock the potential of bi-parliamentarism - The Franco-German model N2 - The inception of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly in January 2019 marked an important step towards the institutionalization of Franco-German relations on a parliamentary level. The Assembly provides a forum for binational debate and democratic scrutiny, and has the potential to strengthen Franco-German cooperation and leadership at EU level by fostering practical compromises and solutions bilaterally before they are being brought to Brussels. The Assembly nevertheless falls short of its potential. In their policy brief, Henriette Heimbach and Thu Nguyen assess the Assembly’s shortcomings and provide suggestions for improvement. Apart from enhancing the transparency of its work, the Assembly should focus on addressing concrete bilateral problems and channeling them into concrete demands. At the same time, the Assembly should act as coordination forum for Franco-German positions at EU level to foster common positions. The authors conclude that despite its shortcomings, the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly can serve as a role model for other member states to establish and institutionalize similar forms of bi-parliamentarism. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-36899 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Heimbach, Henriette A1 - Wernert, Yann T1 - The two-step Council Presidency: France‘s Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the election period N2 - The French Council Presidency in the first half of 2022 comes at an important time. While many European dossiers such as the Digital Markets Act or the climate package „Fitfor55“ are waiting for decisive impulses and successfully conducted negotiations, presidential and parliamentary elections will take place in France from April on. President Macron will therefore use the first three months of the Council Presidency intensively to set political accents, to advance the European project and to make his mark in the French election campaign. The elections will then be the beginning of a technocratic phase of the Council Presidency in which few results are to be expected. KW - French presidency of the Council of the European Union 2022; French elections 2022 Y1 - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-42543 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/en/publications/detail/publication/two-step-council-presidency ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Heimbach, Henriette A1 - Wernert, Yann T1 - Une présidence du Conseil divisée: La présidence française du Conseil de l’Union européenne en période électorale N2 - La présidence française du Conseil de l’UE au premier semestre 2022 aura lieu dans un contexte très particulier. Alors que de nombreux dossiers européens, tels la législation sur les services numériques ou le paquet « Fitfor55 » pour la protection du climat, doivent être finalisés, la France se verra face à des élections présidentielles et législatives à partir d’avril. Emmanuel Macron devra donc mettre à profit les trois premiers mois de cette présidence pour marquer ses priorités politiques, faire avancer le projet européen et se démarquer lors de la campagne électorale pour se faire réélire. Les élections présidentielles marqueront la fin de cette première phase de la présidence du Conseil, qui sera suivie par une phase technocratique, où peu de décisions d’envergure sont attendues au niveau européen. KW - Predidence du Conseil; elections francaises 2022 Y1 - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-42556 UR - https://hertieschool-f4e6.kxcdn.com/fileadmin/2_Research/1_About_our_research/2_Research_centres/6_Jacques_Delors_Centre/Publications/Wernet_Heimbach_French_Presidency_FRENCH.pdf ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Heimbach, Henriette T1 - A Watchdog on the Leash - 5 Years of Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly N2 - In March 2024, the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly (FGPA) celebrated its fifth anniversary. This binational forum can be viewed as a genuine step towards integration in Franco-German relations besides the Aachen Treaty. The FGPA is designed to be a watchdog over the Franco-German treaties and to bring together political actors of both countries to discuss and resolve conflictual issues and contribute to European initiatives. After five years of its being, the results are mixed. Franco-German governmental relations are more conflictual than ever. While the FGPA proved added value during the Covid-19 pandemic by convincing the French and German interior ministers to lift border controls, it has been notably reticent on the Ukraine war and other foreign policy conflicts. The FGPA would benefit by being bolder and extricating itself step-by-step from national political constraints. In this way, parliamentary dialogue can help the two key partners to find common ground on a range of European issues. Y1 - 2024 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/en/publications/detail/publication/a-watchdog-on-the-leash ER -