The relationship between France and Germany has been spluttering for years. But as Europe battles growing instability on its doorstep, the stakes have never been higher.
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen is attempting to present a united front when it comes to support for Ukraine and the EU's defence policy. But the fracturing Franco-German relationship is making this increasingly difficult.
Cracks began to show in the second half of last year, when it emerged that Germany did not intend to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine any time soon - to Macron's irritation. While Scholz did not rule out handing over the weapons later down the line, he decided to prioritise strengthening Ukrainian air defence assets.
The relationship between France and Germany has been spluttering for years. But as Europe battles growing instability on its doorstep, the stakes have never been higher
PA
France, alongside London, announced the delivery of their own similar missiles in May and June last year.
Despite Germany being the second largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine, behind the US, the diverging approaches were representative of a feeling in Paris that Scholz does "too little, too late" for Ukraine. But from Germany's perspective, France - sitting in 14th position when it comes to supplying Ukraine with weapons - has no leg to stand on.
Last week, Macron was slapped down by Scholz after he announced that placing Western troops shouldn't be "ruled out". Scholz rebuffed the statement, causing Macron to later hit back that Europeans shouldn't be "cowards". The intervention was dubbed unhelpful by the Scholz camp.
But its not just within the EU - the souring of relations is also evident when it comes to UK foreign policy.
Macron is said to be gearing up to push back against Starmer's plans for a UK-EU defence body - something Labour plans to prioritise if it wins the next election.
The proposed UK-EU body would see cooperation on operations and procurement of weapons. But an EU official told the Telegraph that France is likely to dig its heels in at the plans. They claimed Paris had been annoyed by Labour’s focus on agreeing a new bilateral defence pact with Germany.
There's no doubt that the Franco-German spat that is currently unfolding will have impacts that reach further than their own borders.
The two leaders are preparing to meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Berlin this weekend, with hopes for reconciliation already being pinned on the meeting
But Piotr Buras of the European Council on Foreign Relations warned that repairing the soured relations may well be a tall order.
He told Politico: "I don’t think [the Poles] can easily fix the Franco-German relationship. The sources of disagreement between France and Germany lie beyond Tusk’s reach."
Writing for European outlet Le Monde, Stefan Meister, a researcher with the German Council on Foreign Relations, echoed the sentiment - warning that the disagreement is becoming increasingly personal.
He explained: "More and more [Scholz and Macron] are struggling to establish a working relationship, and everyday what separates them takes on a more personal edge."
There is a concern that if the rift is not healed soon, it could undermine the EU's efforts to present a united front when standing up to aggressors across the globe.
Scholz has already made life difficult for the EU when it comes to signing off further funding for Ukraine. But as the world gets increasingly unstable, the stakes for such a pivotal EU relationship are only growing.
