Franco-German Defense Cooperation: Outlook and Implications

Postwar military cooperation between France and Germany dates from the late 1950s, when the two began to pursue joint weapons development and armaments production. The current state of intensified defense cooperation began in 1982, when French President Mitterrand and West German Chancellor Schmidt agreed to conduct through exchanges of views on security problems. This led to the October 1982 decision to implement the defense clauses of the 1963 Elysee Treaty of Friendship. Cooperation today includes increased consultation on the role of French nuclear forces if employed on German territory, cooperation within the joint Defense and Security Council and joint Franco-German Brigade, major training exercises at the brigade and division levels, and promotion of cooperative weapons production. Of the many accomplishments in Franco-German cooperation since 1982, three areas stand out the institutionalization of high-level meetings at regular intervals, the improved preparations for possible French participation in the defense of Germany, and the agreement on consultations regarding the potential use of French tactical nuclear weapons on German soil. France and Germany are likely to continue pursuing closer military ties and, on balance, it is in the interests of the United States to encourage them.