On 2 April 2019, France and Germany recommitted themselves to multilateralism in two surprising moves. The most recent and well reported event is the cooperative launching of an "Alliance of Multilateralism.” The coalition, which is set to launch in September, is part of the Treaty of Aachen, a renewing and deepening of cooperation between the two countries that was signed on 22 January 2019.
The announcement is seen by many as standing in opposition to the thematically nationalist and secessionist rhetoric and actions from the U.S., such as its recent act of revoking the visa of Fatou Bensouda, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to which the country is a signatory and therefore within the jurisdiction of the court.
The PRs announced that they had spoken to Canada and Japan about joining the Alliance, with Australia, India, Indonesia, and Mexico also possibly in tow. Spokesperson Lu Kang, of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, commented on the Alliance a few days later that China has and continues to stand ready to support international cooperation, although no mention has been made of them formally joining the Alliance. Nor has there been any information the France or Germany as to what official modalities and substantive outcomes that the Alliance would work towards.
Similar cooperation, and even more unprecedented, was on display when the two UN missions of France and Germany announced that in line with the new Treaty, the two countries would be holding joint-presidency of the Security Council (SC). France, which held the presidency for March, handed over the presidency formally to Germany for April as required by the Charter, however in this innovative, new practice both countries jointly occupy the chair and have synergized their agendas.
While certainly not a formal reform, this cooperation marks a departure from how business is usually done in the SC (where standardized formality plays an important diplomatic role). It’s especially noteworthy that such an arrangement involves one of the Five Permanent Members (France) and Germany which has had its eye on a permanent seat for decades.