France/Germany

26^th July 2010

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble took part in a French Council of Ministers on 21st July. This symbolic meeting for both countries focused on "European economic governance". With his French counterpart Christine Lagarde he presented joint proposals in view of the next meetings of the working group on European economic governance chaired by Herman Van Rompuy. Paris and Berlin maintained their determination to enhance the European Stability and Growth Pact demanding greater sanctions against European States that fall into chronic deficit. French President Nicolas Sarkozy pleaded in favour of increased fiscal convergence between the two countries. He suggested that to achieve this "a comparative review of the French and German tax systems should be undertaken (...) the convergence of our fiscal systems is a vital detail of our economic integration and the development of the internal market in Europe."

Read
Other link
Other link
Other link