Tsk tsk, you're not allowed to spy, naughty Germans. We're only allowed to spy on you.
Besides, why spy on the BBC, it's 'fake news' remember?
ikalugin, you have a good point, but these German and French states did have the advantage of having some sort of cultural joint identity, in that they considered themselves French or German, but that doesn't tend to extend to the whole continent as much. People tend to think of themselves as country first continent second.