Clément Beaune, Minister of State for European Affairs, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will spend today and tomorrow in Berlin presenting the top priorities for the French presidency of the Council of the European Union before the European Affairs committee of the Bundestag. On January 13, he will speak at a hearing there alongside the German Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Anna Lührmann.

As Secretaries General for Franco-German Cooperation, Mr. Beaune and Ms. Lührmann will be discussing matters relating to Europe and the countries' bilateral relationship.

The minister will also meet with Wolfgang Schmidt, German Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks, and will take part in a working lunch with Sven Giegold and Franziska Brantner, State Secretaries to Robert Habeck, German Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.

Mr. Beaune will speak with these different partners regarding Franco-German bilateral cooperation as well as France's main priorities for its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2022, such as the digital and climate transition, the social agenda, the Conference on the Future of Europe, migration, the rule of law and efforts to strengthen democracy. The reinforcement of European sovereignty will also be a key topic in these talks.

During his visit to Berlin, Clément Beaune will also discuss the issues on the agenda for the French presidency of the Council of the European Union with German members of Parliament on the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs and Defense committees in addition to researchers and members of German think tanks.

The minister will be awarding the National Order of the Legion of Honor to Stephan Steinlein, State Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Federal President of Germany.

North Korea – Missile launch (January 12, 2022)

France condemns the latest missile launch on January 10, less than a week after the January 5^th launch, both characterized by North Korea as hypersonic missile launches.

North Korea's pursuit of its weapons program is a threat to international peace and security and undermines international efforts to resume a dialogue, as noted in the joint statement delivered the day before yesterday by France, Albania, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States at the Security Council, and in the EU statement issued yesterday.

We urge North Korea to end its illegal activities and to comply with UN Security Council resolutions aimed at achieving its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization. In the meantime, we will continue to work actively with our partners to ensure the complete and effective implementation of international sanctions.