This paper deals with the stipulations of the Aachen Treaty, which, with the creation of the Franco-German Citizens’ Fund, focused on the civil societies of the two partner countries and their further growing together. To this end, the question is addressed as to why a further Franco-German organisation is necessary, especially in these times, and why it can be given the necessary role as a constant motor for a necessary further Europeanisation by being designed as an independent institution as far as possible.
With the help of its financial support for the bi-national exchange of citizens’ initiatives, foundations, cultural centres, associations, town twinning and other forms of private commitment, the Citizens’ Fund is intended as a “lighthouse project of the Aachen Treaty” to appeal to those who have not yet become known as classic stakeholders in the Franco-German friend-ship.
Against the background of this objective, the design of the citizens’ fund as an independent international organisation appears to be the optimal legal form. Its general organisational struc-ture should be based on that of the Franco-German Youth Office. In this respect, the specification of the organisational integration of the Citizens’ Fund into the Youth Office within the framework of the pilot phase until the end of 2022 was a sensible decision of the Franco-German Council of Ministers, not only because of the great expertise available there.
An expansion of the administrative or supervisory body in an independent citizens’ fund by representatives of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly seems just as advisable to guarantee transparency and day-to-day political independence as its at least partial opening to other European member states.
In conclusion, it remains to be stated that in times of crumbling democracies and the danger of COVID, a turn to the citizens and their private or para-public forms of organisation is just as important as the promotion of exchange between the citizens of both countries in the heart of Europe helps more than ever to overcome distances and to experience transnational community.