ABSTRACT
Hopes for an agreement rested on the Franco-German summit in December 1995. But the general strike against the cuts in social security in France prohibited an agreement. Therefore, it fell upon the Italian presidency and further Franco-German negotiations to reach an accord. An agreement had been reached to accept only a directive which both governments supported. This political understanding helped the search for a compromise of the responsible administrators in the German federal ministry of economics and the French industry ministry. The contacts between the responsible division heads had already intensified during the time of the presidencies of the two governments. Now frequent telephone calls and meetings in Paris and Bonn took place. In particular, the Franco-German summit in Dijon in early June 1996 allowed the breakthrough. The French position was always co-ordinated in the Secrétariat général du comité interministériel pour les questions de co-opération économique européenne (SGCI), and the industry ministry faced few demands from other sides. Despite their more difficult situation given the very heterogeneous interests involved in German electricity politics and a less stringent national co-ordination of positions, the German administrators also managed to be accountable partners.
