The Franco-German Ministerial Council (French Conseil des ministres franco-allemands, German Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat) is the regular meeting of the ministerial cabinet of both the government of Germany and the government of France. The joint ministerial council is held approximately twice a year in spring and autumn.
The Franco-German Ministerial Council replaces the regular summits of the heads of state of France and Germany as designated in the Élysée Treaty of 1963. During the celebrations of the 40. anniversary of the Élysée Treaty it was decided to put the ministerial staff into regular direct contact. It is the duty of the respective foreign ministers to prepare the ministerial council.
The Franco-German anniversary declaration of 22. January 2003 do also include sections to put councils at a regional level into direct contact. The annual summits of the heads of state of France and Germany had already been replaced by Blaesheim Process with regular meetings every six to eight weeks named after the little town Blaesheim near Strasbourg where the first meeting was held on 31 January 2001.
Historically the joint ministerial council represents another step in the Franco-German integration - the original Elysee Treaty of 1963 saw the creation of a student exchange office (Office franco-allemand pour la jeunesse - OFAJ / Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk - DFJW) that was extended into a joint council on cultural exchange in 1988 (Haut-Conseil culturel franco-allemand - HCCFA / Deutsch-Französischer Kulturrat - DFKR). On the 22. anniversary of the Elysee Treaty (22. January 1988) a joint council on economic affairs was created (Conseil économique et financier franco-allemand - CEFFA / Deutsch-französischer Finanz- und Wirtschaftsrat - DFFWR) organising meetings of the ministers of finance about four times a year and a joint council on security affairs was created (Conseil franco-allemand de défense et de sécurité - CFADS / Deutsch-Französischer Verteidigungs- und Sicherheitsrat - DFVSR) organising meetings of the ministers of external affairs and the military about twice a year. An annual joint ministerial council on environment protection (Conseil franco-allemand de l’environnement - CFAE / Deutsch-Französischer Umweltrat) was first held on 13. February 1990 following a resolution of the ministerial consultations on 2. November 1989. On the 50. anniversary of the Elysee Treaty a declaration was resolved by the Franco-German Minsterial Council on 22. January 2013 that named a number of joint Franco-German committees reporting to the national ministers.
Timeline
The joint ministerial meeting of the 22. January 2003 in Paris is counted as the 1. Franco-German Ministerial Council.
The autumn meetings of 2005 and 2009 were skipped due to federal elections in Germany.
The 2013 meeting was held on 22 January 2013 in Berlin alongside the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty with a joint ministerial council and a joint parliamentary assembly of the French National Assembly and the German Bundestag at the Reichstag building in Berlin.