The German Chancellor told the press conference following the Franco-German Council of Ministers, on Thursday 13 July, that she is prepared to discuss the future of Economic and Monetary Union.
Although the question of the future of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was not central to this Franco-German Council of Ministers, Chancellor Merkel and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, discussed the subject at the press conference.
The two leaders appear to be prepared to discuss relaunching the economic and monetary union project. Merkel said that it was possible to talk of a European finance minister and that she had “nothing against a Eurozone budget”. On the latter point, she also stressed that she had raised the idea of a small budget for the Eurozone in 2012, but that this had not come to pass. “I would be delighted if the idea resurfaces”, she added. For his part, the French President said that the two leaders “agreed that this time of re-founding was vital to our country and the European project”.
Despite this enthusiasm, Merkel took pains to stress that the debate could not begin until after the German general elections to be held in September. This is because the Bundestag will have to give the parliament the necessary mandate to renegotiate the treaties. In any event, she hopes for an extremely ambitious Eurozone timetable. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)