Brussels, 05/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - French President François Hollande announced on Monday 5 January that he is to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Strasbourg this Sunday to discuss the future of Europe.
“It is on the initiative of European Parliament President that I will meet Mrs Merkel … and we will discuss the future of Europe and Franco-German relations”, Hollande said. He noted that, for two and a half years he and Merkel had enjoyed a “sincere but frank working relationship. We tell one another things. We do not share the same approach but we have the same goal, the same desire: to make Europe stronger, more united in its choices and more active in its growth policies”.
“What she expects is for a country like France to be competitive.” France wants “a country like Germany to be more engaged in improving growth”, Hollande said. “So we are looking to find points in common”, he added (our translation throughout). (LC)