The Germans and French have a lot to gain from belittling NATO because a weakened NATO gives credence to the Euro-enthusiasts' claims that it was the Common Market/EU who assured peace in Europe (north of the Balkans) since WW2.
Of course, it was nothing of the kind - NATO provided the safe environment in which Western European nations could learn to trust each other and, where necessary, grow into properly functioning democracies. They could then start to remove trade barriers and reduce protectionism. The EU, militarily, is a paper tiger, and a particularly damp one at that! Concerns about the way in which Russia and its allies might move in the future are well justified, in my opinion.
So, as long as a potential threat remains, NATO must remain in being. But it's becoming increasingly hard to sell that to our people when there's no obvious bogey man to point at.