Tag: Angela Merkel

It would be naive to believe that Germany's economy can stay healthy while much of the rest of the continent is "sick". So, as Peer Steinbrück and the SPD demanded repeatedly, it is in Germany's interest to finally rethink its strategy and boost growth writes Jo Leinen MEP.

German chancellor Angela Merkel’s best bet for a stable third term could very well be a coalition with the Green Party, writes Kevin Lees.

The leader of Germany's Left party urged the Social Democrats (SPD) on Sunday (4 August) to rethink their ban on a left-wing alliance as an opinion poll showed the three opposition parties could narrowly beat Chancellor Angela Merkel in the 22 Septebmer election.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come out against handing the European Commission more powers, in the clearest sign yet that she is reining in her ambitions to create a "fiscal union" in which euro members cede control of their budgets to Brussels.

At a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande defended his comment that the EU executive cannot "dictate" reforms to member states – a defiant, nationalist tone that angered Germany's ruling conservatives.

Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the eurozone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting.

Even though French Socialists launched a personal attack on Angela Merkel's financial housekeeping in their European roadmap, their centre-left colleagues in Germany are playing a subtler endgame, EurActiv France reports.

A draft resolution in the ruling French Socialist leaked over the weekend has revealed deep hostility towards German-led austerity policies in the European Union. The draft text has since been amended but the episode exposes a deep ideological fracture between the eurozone’s two largest economies.

German chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück won many converts at the Social Democrat’s recent party conference, bolstering the left’s election push, but the SPD’s turn in fortunes is likely to fade in the home straight, EurActiv Germany and EurActiv France report.

French President François Hollande has given EU foreign ministers until end of May to negotiate lifting the bloc’s arms embargo on Syria and give the coalition the weapons it needs to fight the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. But Germany and others have reiterated their reservations, warning of a potential regional escalation of the conflict.

Budget hawks appeared to gain the upper hand in the latest budget draft presented by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, cutting back still further a version of the 2014-2020 budget presented two months ago. 

France’s François Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel broadly agreed on a roadmap for deepening the economic and monetary union (EMU) during a two-day summit, which ended in Brussels today (14 December). But they described new contractual schemes to support economic reforms in eurozone states in characteristically contrasting terms.

France's German-speaking prime minister offered a worried Berlin reassurances on Thursday (15 November) that his government would reduce the deficit and prevent France from becoming the next victim of the euro crisis by applying a new economic model.

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who reunified Germany and pushed the country into the euro, urged Europe to press ahead with closer integration despite a crisis of the single currency, saying the continent must never again descend into conflict.

In a rare political declaration, Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has rejected "binary choices" for the eurozone's future, dismissing calls for a "United States of Europe" as well as a return to national currencies to stop the sovereign debt crisis.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering an EU 'convention' to draw up a new treaty for closer European political unification and help overcome the bloc's sovereign debt crisis, the weekly Der Spiegel reported on Sunday (26 August). Merkel later denied the report.

The Eurogroup today (20 July) announced it would grant a bailout of up to €100 billion to Spain to help the country recapitalise its banks, following a telephone conference call during which finance ministers gave their backing to the rescue plan.