Neue deutsch-französische Institutionen: Ein Vorbild für Demokratie und Frieden in Europa?

In the organizer's words:

Enemies should become friends - that was perhaps the most important goal of the Élysée Treaty of 1963, just 18 years after the end of the Second World War. In 2019, the Treaty of Aachen renewed the Elysée Treaty from a European perspective and, among other things, established the Franco-German Civic Fund. At the same time, the Bundestag and the Assemblée Nationale agreed to establish the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly, consisting of 50 MPs from each country. Since 2019, it has met at least twice a year, alternating between Germany and France. This form of institutionalized cooperation between two national parliaments is unique in the world. But what do we know about these new Franco-German institutions?

Together with young people from Bonn and representatives of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly and the Franco-German Civic Fund, we want to address the following questions:

• How does the Assembly work and what influence can it have on the decisions of the two national parliaments?
• To what extent do both institutions represent the interests of citizens and how do they benefit them?
• And what contribution do they make to strengthening our respective democracies?

Panel guests:

• Brigitte Klinkert, Member of the Assemblée Nationale, Member of the Board of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly
• Johanna Haag, responsible for the communication of the Franco-German Civic Fund
• Henriette Heimbach, PhD student and associate member of the Jacques Delors Center for Franco-German Relations in Europe (Hertie School, Berlin)
• Pupils from Bonn

Greeting:

• Etienne Sur (tbc), French Consul General in NRW
• Wilfried Klein, Director of the GSI

Moderation:

• Annabelle Steffes, editor at Deutsche Welle

Partners of the event:

• the Institut Français Bonn,
• the Ernst-Robert-Curtius Center of the University of Bonn (CERC) and
• German-French Society Bonn and Rhine-Sieg e.V. (DFG)