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German and French governments have agreed to closer communication and cooperation on supporting the economy amid record-high energy prices and plans for new sanctions.

At a news conference on Thursday (31 March), Bruno Le Maire, France’s minister for the economy, announced the joint decision “cooperate very closely on the economic response,” while his German counterpart Robert Habeck noted that additional measures to alleviate the strain of energy prices on industry were in the pipeline.

Previously, both German and French governments – the former newly installed, the latter imminently up for re-election – had largely put consumer support measures in place.

Both countries subsidised petrol at upwards of 15 cents per litre.

On the one hand, the two governments would closely cooperate on supporting their energy-intensive industries while planning beyond the current crisis, Habeck explained.

The goal was a European “hydrogen backbone network,” he said.

In February, the French and German ministers had agreed to work toward the EU’s technical and economic sovereignty. Le Maire said it must be based on “common industrial projects”, such as electrical networks, electric batteries, and hydrogen.

The countries also agreed to implement working groups to resolve conflicts between their respective industrial and hydrogen strategies in a bid to further the two countries’ future economic cooperation.

France and Germany to work on 'common industrial projects'
France and Germany will work on “common industrial projects” such as electrical networks, batteries and hydrogen, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said after receiving his German counterpart Robert Habeck in Paris on Monday (7 February).

To facilitate this close cooperation on economic and energy policy, both ministries would establish task forces to stay in contact daily, while the ministers would confer once a week, Habeck and Le Maire told journalists on Thursday.

Having “close coordination would ensure that the measures would be as impactful as possible,” emphasised Le Maire.

Sanctions were another topic up for discussion at the high-level Franco-German meeting.

“The previous sanctions package should not and must not be the last one,” explained Habeck, adding that France and Germany were thinking beyond the sanctions agreed amongst EU leaders.

The two had discussed “which sanctions could hinder Putin and discussed measures” but would not comment on the exact nature of the discussions.

Germany had reportedly been one of the last holdouts on more severe energy sanctions against Russia, such as an embargo on energy commodities.

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