The Guardian view on political turmoil in Paris and Berlin: an ominous end to the year | Editorial

The European Union's two most powerful member states are plunged into introspection, as Donald Trump prepares to enter the White House

After a brief weekend hiatus, action has resumed in the real-life political boxsets playing out in the EU's two most important capitals. In the Bundestag on Monday, a vote of no confidence in Chancellor OlafScholz's battered coalition government duly paved the way for a snap election in February. Over in Paris - where the same manoeuvre collapsed MichelBarnier's short-lived government a fortnight ago - his prime ministerial replacement was putting his feet under the desk after being appointed on Friday by an increasingly desperateEmmanuel Macron.

As Europe faces big decisions and dilemmas overUkraine, how to deal with Donald Trump, and thechallenge of China, this is no time for the continent's fabled Franco-German engine to temporarily conk out. But there are no easy fixes in view on either side of the Rhine. In both France and Germany, the rise of the far right and a concomitant crisis of trust in mainstream politics have pointed to adeep political malaise for some time.