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Emmanuel Macron postponed a meeting with Olaf Scholz amid signs of growing splits between France and Germany over energy and defence, The Telegraph reported.

France is privately “furious” with Berlin for launching a €200 billion domestic energy aid scheme without consulting its closest EU partner, and for favouring US and foreign weaponry over EU defences, according to reports.

German in turn is said to have privately complained about French hypocrisy and egoism.

The decision to put off next week’s traditional Franco-German government consultations came as Mr Macron came under domestic fire after he bypassed MPs to get his 2023 budget through parliament, where he no longer wields a majority. The move sparked an opposition pledge to table a no-confidence motion.

On Wednesday French and German officials played down any suggestion of a rift, saying they needed “more time” before the leaders meet in Fontainebleau, south of Paris — the first such consultations since Mr Scholz took office last year.

"There is a common desire to have something more ambitious ... on defence and how we align European sovereignty with the needs and choices that have been made and on energy questions to see with the Germans how we build a European sovereign strategy," said an Elysée official.

Steffen Hebestreit, Chancellor Scholz's spokesman, acknowledged that "there are a number of different issues that we are dealing with at the moment... on which we have not yet reached a unified position."

Both sides decided it was "sensible" to postpone the talks to January.