In the face of war threats and accelerating climate and technological changes, the French President and the German Chancellor declare their intention to fully harness Franco-German coordination and reflexes to make Europe more sovereign and promote its interests.

As we face war on our continent, fierce global competition, accelerating climate and technological changes, and threats of global trade wars, we have agreed on a comprehensive agenda to relaunch our relationship and strengthen Europe. We want to make our partnership more strategic and operational in order to deliver concrete results for our citizens and for the Union. We will fully harness Franco-German coordination and reflexes to make Europe more sovereign, focusing on security, competitiveness, and convergence.

Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has shattered the illusion that peace and security are guaranteed in Europe. We have already begun to take greater responsibility for our own security, and we will do even more. We will continue to strengthen our own defense capabilities to also reinforce NATO's European pillar. We will increase our security and defense spending, support the European defense industrial and technological base, and promote a dynamic European preference, drawing on the Commission's proposals for public and private investment instruments.

We must reduce our strategic dependencies, the number of defense systems in Europe, and enhance standardization and interoperability to create an efficient market, support a “best athlete” approach for the industry, and pursue work on appropriate financing solutions. We must boost joint production, procurement, and acquisitions in priority capability areas, as decided at the European level.

We will regularly convene a Franco-German Security and Defense Council on strategy, defense, and national security issues, including coordination of support to Ukraine, defense planning and production, our strategic defense objectives, and upcoming national strategic reviews. We will breathe new life into our bilateral defense cooperation projects to meet current and future needs while developing a joint defense innovation program.

We will also adopt a coordinated approach toward Russia and the systemic threat it poses to European security.

We remain united and firmly committed to a sovereign and independent Ukraine. We will never accept a peace imposed on Ukraine and will continue to support it against Russian aggression. We will work in concert with the United States, Ukraine, and our European partners to achieve a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire. Once that ceasefire is established, we are ready to contribute to a just and lasting peace, supported by U.S. security guarantees, including a strong Ukrainian army to deter future Russian aggression.

We will also adopt a coordinated approach to Russia and the systemic threat it represents for European security.

Prosperity is a prerequisite for our sovereignty. We will accelerate the implementation of the EU's competitiveness agenda to achieve concrete results. To reduce energy costs and ensure supply security, France and Germany will realign their energy policies based on climate neutrality, competitiveness, and sovereignty. This involves applying the principle of technological neutrality, ensuring non-discriminatory treatment of all low-carbon energies within the EU, adopting a pragmatic approach to low-carbon hydrogen, recognizing that natural gas can be a transitional energy for EU Member States that need it, and focusing on carbon emissions in our efforts to meet energy targets.

Based on a comprehensive view of our energy markets, we are committed to effective investment in core networks, especially cross-border infrastructure. We agree that any new climate target must be supported by credible strategies to safeguard EU competitiveness and prevent carbon leakage.

We must also urgently reduce administrative burdens in the EU that stifle growth by reviewing all European rules, removing constraints while maintaining the ambitions we've set. We support the Commission's proposals and stress the need to swiftly implement a simplification agenda, particularly regarding the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). We call for further simplification of European rules.

We will also accelerate efforts on investments, research, innovation, partnerships, and economies of scale in key sectors where the EU must retain a competitive edge - such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, energy and clean technologies, biotechnology, space, semiconductors, and defense. We will explore the idea of a European preference in public procurement, especially for low-carbon products. We will also work to establish EU-wide competition rules that enable world-class European champions to emerge in key sectors.

We need both public and private investments, especially in infrastructure. Creating a true Capital Markets Union to channel savings toward European businesses supporting the green and digital transitions, as well as defense - through level playing fields, a revitalized European securitization market, and a European savings product - is a top priority. We will work together on a modernized multiannual EU financial framework to meet our challenges and advance new own resources.

We will explore ways to establish a mutually beneficial trade and investment agenda with the United States.

Faced with fiercer global competition, we will act on a new sustainable trade policy agenda for the EU to de-risk and diversify our partnerships and value chains while strengthening European competitiveness and securing effective safeguards for agriculture and strategic sectors, in line with our continued commitment to open, fair, and rules-based trade. This must not be mistaken for naivety. If economic relations are to be mutually beneficial, competition must be truly fair.

We will explore ways to establish a mutually beneficial trade and investment agenda with the United States. At the same time, no one should doubt our determination to fully protect the EU's interests and respond firmly to harmful measures taken against it.

We encourage the Commission to use its toolbox quickly and decisively when necessary to protect European interests. We will also promote an effective EU economic security policy. Regarding China, we will coordinate our strategic security assessments with a common approach, particularly in terms of trade and economic security, while maintaining engagement on global stability, climate change, and other shared areas of interest.

We also wish to seize this opportunity to coordinate our national economic and social reform programs, especially regarding labor and taxation. We will create a dialogue platform between French and German social partners, as well as economic experts.

We must also take a leading role on migration. We will ensure the full and swift implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, uniformly in France and Germany, and aim to achieve results on EU return rules. Our goal is to steer the Schengen area more strategically and ensure close coordination of internal border controls to guarantee its proper functioning and effectiveness.

Finally, we need reforms to ensure Europe's stability - internally, to promote democracy, the rule of law, and the EU's capacity to act; externally, to prepare for enlargement and tackle geopolitical challenges, including through the European Political Community.

75 years after Robert Schuman's declaration of May 9, 1950, we are proud of what Europeans have accomplished.
We will serve, every day, the goal of those “concrete achievements creating a de facto solidarity,” and we will do so together - France and Germany - for a more sovereign European Union that promotes its interests.