The Franco-German Ministerial Council replaces the regular summits of the heads of state of France and Germany as designated in the Élysée Treaty of 1963.
The Franco-German anniversary declaration of 22 January 2003 also includes sections to put councils at regional level in direct contact.
[1][2] The joint ministerial council represents another step in the Franco-German integration —the original Elysee Treaty of 1963 saw the creation of a student exchange office (Office franco-allemand pour la jeunesse - OFAJ / Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk - DFJW)[3] that was extended into a joint council on cultural exchange in 1988 (Haut-Conseil culturel franco-allemand - HCCFA / Deutsch-Französischer Kulturrat - DFKR).
[4] On the 22nd anniversary of the Elysee Treaty (22 January 1988) a joint council on economic affairs was created (Conseil économique et financier franco-allemand - CEFFA / Deutsch-französischer Finanz- und Wirtschaftsrat - DFFWR) organising meetings of the ministers of finance about four times a year[5] and a joint council on security affairs was created (Conseil franco-allemand de défense et de sécurité - CFADS / Deutsch-Französischer Verteidigungs- und Sicherheitsrat - DFVSR) organising meetings of the ministers of external affairs and the military about twice a year.
The declaration named goals such as the harmonisation of the social modell, the education system, the taxation standard and it pointed to MALE drones as part of the bilateral military collaboration.
[4] On the 2017 summit the creation of an integration office (Conseil franco-allemand de l’intégration - CFAI / Deutsch-Französische Integrationsrat - DFIR) was resolved.
The bilateral Aachen Treaty on further Franco-German integration efforts was endorsed which includes additional funding for the Youth Office (DFJW / OFAJ).
English names can be derived from international press briefings of the French or German government or when the institutions are referenced in documents of the European Union.