BERLIN — Times are rough for the European Union. The news coming from Britain grows more depressing every day. Italy is governed by a maverick government searching for an open confrontation with France. Hungary and Poland are slowly slipping into authoritarianism. And we are headed for a European election in May that could result in further gains by populist parties.

It is tempting, then, to see a ray of hope in an agreement by Germany and France, announced on Friday, for a eurozone budget, which the two countries will present to their fellow member states. Maybe, after years of delay, Paris and Berlin are finally taking the initiative to reverse Europe’s seemingly unstoppable, slow-motion disintegration.

Not so fast. This latest deal aside, France and Germany, both founding powers of the European Union and its most powerful members, have been growing increasingly at odds. The discord is driven in part by differences over concrete policy proposals. But the bigger, intractable problem is a fundamental difference in their visions for Europe.

This being Europe, the two countries have done their best to paper over their differences with rhetorical displays of unity. In November, French president Emmanuel Macron stood on the floor of the German Bundestag to deliver a speech marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Not holding back, he described the Franco-German relationship as one of “love” — a love born of the many catastrophes of the 20th century. On Jan. 22, the two countries even renewed their vows, so to speak, by signing an update to the 1963 Elysée Treaty, which announced a new era of comity between the two former enemies.