Following a meeting in Paris on Friday 16 March, Bruno Le Maire, the French minister for the economy and finance, and Olaf Scholz, the new German finance minister, announced that the roadmap on the deepening of the eurozone would be presented in the run-up to the June eurozone summit.
However, at the Eurogroup meeting of Monday 12 March, Le Maire had hinted that the roadmap may be unveiled ahead of the eurozone summit of 23 March (see EUROPE 11979).
Although the two ministers were unable to find common ground on all matters, they acknowledged that they had had an open discussion and made progress during their meeting. Le Maire also welcomed the fact that a number of specific differences of opinion are on the table for future discussions. The ministers went on to call for an open method, inviting all of their eurozone partners to make their own contributions to the drafting of this roadmap.
Over dinner on Friday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also discussed the deepening of economic and monetary union ahead of the forthcoming eurozone summit. However, no decisions of the Nineteen, for instance on completion of banking union and converting the European stability mechanism into a European monetary fund, are anticipated before the end of June (see EUROPE 11980).
Le Maire and Scholz also discussed subjects they consider extremely important, such as fiscal convergence between Germany and France, the trade war between the EU and the US and the taxation of the digital economy (see other article). On the last of these points, the French minister welcomed the fact that the Commission is to present a proposal on the taxation of the internet giants on Wednesday 21 March (see EUROPE 11982). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)