The new German Chancellor has reserved Friday’s first visit to the French president, which relies on the support of Berlin to realize a series of construction sites during the French Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2022.
Le Monde with AFP
The new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, booked on Friday, December 10 his first visit to the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who relies on the support of Berlin to realize a series of construction sites during the French Presidency of the French Presidency. European Union (PFUE) in the first half of 2022.
Following a long post-war tradition, the social democrat, which succeeded on Wednesday in Angela Merkel, went to Paris immediately the first domestic files taken in Berlin, starting with the health crisis . He was welcomed by Emmanuel Macron for a working lunch, which was to be in a good deal of Europe, at twenty-one days of the Pfue and the next day the presentation of his priorities by the Head of State.
Growth and “Finance Solids” Not Incompatible
“It is a question of maintaining this growth that has been generated by the [European Post-Covid] Covenant. We must at the same time work on the solidity of our finances,” said Scholz during A common press conference with Mr. Macron. “It’s not contradictory. For me these are the two sides of the same effort,” he added, while saying that Paris and Berlin “will reach common concepts on this issue.” / P>
The French President proposed Thursday to “rethink the budget framework” of Europe so far defined by the criteria of Maastricht, which limit the public deficits of the countries of the euro zone at 3% of their GDP. Emmanuel Macron agreed, like Olaf Scholz, that he had to “maintain a serious budget” in the Eurozone, but also stressed the need to “maintain growth” in Europe and to “build” new industrial champions to strengthen the “sovereignty”. “We must find the mechanisms – either the flexibilities or the new rules – which will allow us to hold together these three objectives,” he insisted.
Coalition Agreement
Sign of the European Place of Europe for the new government in power in Berlin, Olaf Scholz will travel to Brussels to meet the leaders of the institutions of the European Union and prepare the European summit of 16 and December 17th. Hailed by Paris, the four-year roadmap signed by Olaf Scholz with its ecologists and liberal coalition allies testifies to new German-side ambitions in the field of European politics, after the luxury of the years Merkel on the subject.
This coalition agreement offers an “extremely solid work base” to reform Europe, highlighted the French Secretary of State for European affairs, Clément Beaune. On several priorities of the French Presidency – the minium salary, the carbon tax at EU borders or European strategic sovereignty – the new German government has already shown.
Berlin also wants to unlock this year “60 billion euros” of public funds to finance “investments for the future”, in particular to achieve the climate objectives of the new coalition, announced Friday the Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner.
These funds will be charged on “a portion” of the new debts contracted under Budget 2021 to cope with the coronavirus pandemic but who have not been used, “said the Minister of the Liberal Party FDP, Functioned on Wednesday.