PARIS, Sept 16, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron hosts
Angela Merkel in Paris on Thursday for the last time before the German
chancellor stands down, which will spell the end of a partnership at the
heart of the European Union for the last four years.

   Merkel is to relinquish power after German elections on September 26,
bringing an end to her 16 years in office that has seen her work with four
different French leaders starting with Jacques Chirac.

   Macron, 24 years her junior, has never hidden his admiration for Merkel's
longevity, but his sometimes abrasive style and pro-European activism has
contrasted with the more cautious approach of his German partner.

   In 2019, during a rough patch in ties, Merkel admitted the pair "wrestle
with each other" and had "differences in mentality", leading Macron to
declare that he believed in "productive confrontation".

   "They have very different styles," said Alexandre Robinet-Borgomano, an
expert on Germany at the French think-tank the Montaigne Institute.

   "The chancellor is someone who takes her time, is always looking for
compromises, whereas the president is a disruptor, who is prepared to make
bold statements about problems he feels are being ignored," he said.

   But in the view of many EU watchers, the two have managed to bridge their
gap in age and temperament, forming an ultimately effective version of the
fabled "Franco-German" locomotive that drives the 27-nation European Union.

   "Despite their big differences, their cooperation has worked well," Pawel
Tokarski from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in
Berlin told AFP.

   - Wrangling -

  During their time together, the "Merkron" tandem managed historic crises
from Britain's departure from the European Union, Donald Trump's norm-
shredding US presidency, to the Covid-19 pandemic.

   There were differences and friction along the way -- over EU economic
policy, Russian gas, Brexit and arms sales -- which were thrashed out in
regular phone calls and meetings, often ahead of EU summits.

   "They are very different, but they both have a methodical character and a
way of working that is not that far removed, which has created confidence,"
Europe Minister Clement Beaune, who has witnessed the pair up close since
2017, told AFP.

   Along with behind-the-scenes wrangling, they also shared moments of
genuine public affection, including at the 2018 ceremony to mark 100 years
since the armistice that ended World War I, where they held each other in a
symbolic embrace.

   Their last dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris will likely see them turn
their attention to the diplomatic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, as
well as pressing EU issues such as rising tensions with Poland.

   - EU success -

   All Franco-German partnerships in Europe are judged by the standards of
their illustrious forerunners, from Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in
the post-war era to Francois Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl in the 1980s.

   The most significant moment in the Macron-Merkel era came at a gruelling
EU summit in July last year when the bloc agreed for the first time to borrow
money collectively -- a major step that Germany had long resisted.

   Recognising the damage wrought by Covid-19 on the EU economy, Merkel and
Macron were the architects of a deal that will see the EU raise 800 billion
euros ($950 billion) to be spent around the bloc on infrastructure and new
technology.

   After years of frustration in Paris at Merkel either dragging her feet or
watering down Macron's proposals for the EU, French officials were jubilant
that the pair had succeeded in advancing further than most observers thought
possible.

   "It was the big European moment of the start of this century," commented
Robinet-Borgomano.

   He believes the two have "laid the first stones" for a truly sovereign
Europe, one capable of -- at some point in the future -- taking care of its
own security and acting independently from the United States.

   A host of anti-EU politicians and many disillusioned voters across Europe
are working for the opposite, however, willing a return to nation states and
an end to 75 years of building an ever-closer European Union.

   "There are still unresolved problems, like those for the eurozone for
example, which is far from being stable," Tokarski said. "This is a legacy
that Merkel leaves for her successor."