Politico: Mercron’s sound and fury

Echoing that sentiment, Marine Le Pen warned Monday that the deal opens the door to forcing people in the border regions to speak German at school. It is only a matter of time before France would have to share its permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council with Germany, the leader of France’s National Rally predicted.[...]

While the agreement aspires to promote greater cooperation, interaction and exchange along the border, it’s ludicrous to suggest it’s a back door to recreating the German Reich. The declarations in the treaty are formulated in such broad terms that they’re essentially meaningless.[...]

The Treaty of Aachen's greatest contribution might be to put in black and white just how little Macron has won from Berlin on Europe. Following his upstart campaign for president and his fiery Sorbonne speech on Europe in 2017, many hoped Europe’s moment had finally arrived. [...]

Though both Macron and Merkel have been criticized for the lack of ambition in the Treaty of Aachen, most of the blame lies with Berlin. On all the monumental questions of European integration in recent years, whether the eurozone or the military, the German answer has been the same: Nein.

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Politico: Macron and Merkel’s treaty tests European nerves

Probably the most tangible outcomes of the treaty relate to cross-border cooperation, transport and trade: Both sides want to create "a Franco-German economic area" that cuts bureaucratic hurdles and establishes common regulations, laws and taxes for business on both sides of the Rhine.

However, Merkel cautioned this was a long-term project. "Take, for example, business taxes or insolvency law — much is historically structured in very different ways," the chancellor said during the discussion. "We won't change that overnight, it will take two decades."[...]

The French president, who is facing fierce opposition at home from the Yellow Jackets movement — about 100 of them gathered outside the Aachen town hall to barrack him with howling and whistling — also hit back at opponents of the treaty such as National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who has accused Macron of handing the Alsace and Lorraine border regions back to German tutelage.

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