DeutscheWelle, 30 May 2013
France and
Germany have agreed on the need for a full-time president for the Eurogroup of
finance eurozone ministers. Both countries' leaders met in Paris in an effort
to see eye-to-eye on economic policy.
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande agreed on
Thursday to jointly push for the eurozone to have a full-time chief overseeing
economic policy.
The
Eurogroup of finance ministers from each of the 17 eurozone nations is
currently headed by one of those ministers, currently Dutch Finance Minister
Jeroen Dijsselbloem. The group meets informally every month to decide the
bloc's economic policy.
"We
agree that there be more eurozone summits with a full-time president of the
Eurogroup," which oversees policy in the currency bloc, Hollande said at a
joint press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Hollande also added that
the president should have "more powers."
Hollande
added that the proposed president "could be mandated by eurozone ministers
to support action for jobs, research and industry."
Merkel was
supportive of the idea. "We need more economic policy coordination,
especially in the Eurogroup," she said.
The two
leaders have been seeking to put aside their differences on policy - with
Merkel more focused on austerity and Hollande insistent that growth should be
the priority - ahead of a European Union summit at the end of June. The meeting
is the first time since Hollande came to power that the pair have worked so
closely on policy, with Berlin and Paris keen to present a united front at the
meeting.
An artistic
tour
The meeting
began in the Louvre Museum, with the two leaders touring an exhibition on
German art between 1800 and 1939.
Speaking at
the press conference that followed, Merkel said France had an obligation to
press ahead with structural reforms after Paris was given more time to reduce
its deficit.
"We
agreed to give France two more years to cut its deficit to 3.0 percent (of
gross domestic product)... and coupled with that is the expectation that
reforms will be implemented. These go hand in hand," Merkel said.
Hollande
also reaffirmed his determination to tackle unemployment, despite a 1.2 percent
increase on the number of unemployed in France between March and April being
announced on Thursday. The new data puts the number of registered job seekers
at 3,264,400.
"Despite
this data, despite what it means for many French people individually or for
their family, I maintain the goal of reversing the unemployment trend by year-end,"
Hollande said.
Young
people have been worst affected by the rise in unemployment, the monthly
increase between March and April for under-25s being 2 percent.
rc/msh (AP, dpa, Reuters)
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