Sarkozy, Merkel to seek coordinated economic governance
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to visit Berlin on Monday for a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel when they are expected to seek economic coordination within the European Union (EU) and the eurozone in particular.
European Council President Herman van Rompuy aired this expectation when he addressed in Luxembourg an EU ministerial workshop on economic governance which gathered 27 EU financial ministers.
Sarkozy and Merkel should coordinate their European politics, the EU chief said.
Monday's meeting between Sarkozy and Merkel is viewed as a prelude to the scheduled June 17 EU summit which is to further discuss the issue of economic governance.
"We should ... learn the lessons (of the Greek crisis), by taking all necessary measures to prevent a crisis of this kind from occurring," said Sarkozy and Merkel in their joint letter addressed to van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
"It should first of all reinforce the economic governance of the eurozone," underlined Sarkozy and Merkel.
The French and German leaders had talked about the issue during a telephone conversation back on May 6.
According to French daily Le Monde, Sarkozy is considering a new scheme that groups heads of eurozone states and governments and operates like the "economic government of Europe."
Asked about the newspaper report, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said recent attacks on the euro demonstrated the necessity for the EU to have a "real economic government," which could apply "sanctions" if needed.
However, Le Monde said Germany hadn't accepted Sarkozy's proposal on establishing an "economic government" in Europe though it was not a new initiative.
The French media has disclosed a lot of disagreements and tensions between France and Germany, especially about the proposed reform of Europe since the breakout of the Greek sovereign debt crisis.
Sarkozy has publicly and firmly denied the two countries have any discord on important issues.
The French president was too cautious to publicly lay out his plan for the European economic government, "because any display of Franco-German discord would be fatal to the euro," Le Monde commented.
France and Germany are an "couple" and it's normal for them to have "quarrels," Anne-Marie Idrac, the French state secretary for export, saw it in another way.
Despite disputes, the two major European countries now share much more common responsibilities in saving their common currency and restoring growth.
"The Franco-German couple, which was regarded necessary but insufficient, is from now on the sole motor that remains in Europe. The Commission has lost all its driving capacity, whereas the United Kingdom is out of the game," the French daily said.
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