Rather like Frankenstein's monster, the Franco-German relationship has a habit of appearing dead for long periods, only to spring to life and start crashing around once more. Early last year, many commentators pronounced the monster dormant, if not definitively deceased. The German chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, and the French president, Jacques Chirac, were known to get on badly. The two countries fell out spectacularly at a summit in Nice in late 2000. Germany was said to be increasingly irritated by French intransigence over agricultural reform. And the French were fretful that a unified Germany was looking east, and no longer had eyes for Marianne. Then, in October 2002, the Franco-German relationship miraculously revived. Mr Schroder and Mr Chirac settled their differences over agriculture and the budget. Just as significant as the fact of agreement was how it was reached―at a bilateral meeting just before an EU summit in Brussels, with the deal simply presented to other European leaders. And since that dramatic moment, the relationship has gone from strength to strength.
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