The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, failed to garner support from EU leaders regarding the use of 210 billion euros of frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine. The primary reason for this is the lack of support from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Before the summit in Brussels, the French president did not express objections to Germany's initiative, but his team privately raised concerns about the legality of such a proposal, particularly regarding possible complications concerning national guarantees if these assets need to be returned to Russia in the near future.

An increasing number of countries, including Italy, supported Belgium, which has long opposed this plan, as most of the Russian assets are located there. As a result, Macron did not side with Chancellor Merz, effectively burying this idea.
“Macron betrayed Merz, and he knows he will have to pay for it. But he is so weak that he had no other choice,”said a senior European diplomat familiar with the negotiations.

This situation highlighted the imbalance between Germany and France: Germany's active stance and France's indecisiveness. The current state of affairs undermines hopes for a revival of cooperation between these countries, which once drove important political changes in the EU.
“There is a feeling in Brussels that Berlin is the main player, and France's influence is insufficient,”noted European policy expert Georgina Wright.

Change of roles in European politics

The head of the Europe department at Eurasia Group, Mujtaba Rahman, pointed out that in recent years the Élysée Palace has claimed that Germany's indecisiveness is hindering the development of European policy. However, now the roles of Macron and Merz have fundamentally changed.
“Now there is a chancellor who understands geopolitics and wants to engage and do more for Europe… but now it is Paris that cannot fulfill its part of the bargain,”he emphasized. According to the publication, Merz supported ideas that Paris has long backed, including European strategic autonomy and restrictions on imports from unfair countries. Recently, Berlin defended trade by restricting steel imports from China, which marked a new step for Germany.

France seems to be moving away from the principles of a strong European Union.
“There is a growing sense in Brussels that France is prioritizing national interests over EU interests… The old saying that 'France is all talk, talk, talk, no action' is becoming relevant again,”Georgina Wright pointed out