French minister sees Germany’s likely next chancellor as positive for EU – POLITICO

BRUSSELS — Maybe the Franco-German economic engine will soon sputter back to life after all.

Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, can be good news for the European Union, France’s newly appointed Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin told POLITICO, after years of friction between Paris and Berlin and looming fractures across the bloc over how to deal with the United States and China. 

“We can also look at the rather pro-European character of this would-be chancellor … There are also good reasons to be optimistic,” Saint-Martin said on a visit to Brussels on Friday, in one of his first interviews since taking over the portfolio in late December.