Contribution by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, French and German members of parliament and other personalities, published on n-tv.de

Frankfurt am Main, 22 January 2024

A Franco-German homage and appeal

As a young member of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble founded the Baden-Alsace discussion group together with the Mayor of Colmar, Joseph Rey. In his last ever campaign appearances, he supported pro-European parliamentary candidates in Alsace and Lorraine. Born during the war, raised in the French occupation zone, elected in the border region of southern Baden, friendship with France was close to his heart throughout his life – as the foundation for a strong Europe.

As a minister, Wolfgang Schäuble worked in close contact with his French counterparts. He was the first German finance minister to participate in a meeting of the French cabinet at the Élysée Palace. He formulated the aspiration to always take French and European interests into account: “If a…