Hollande, Merkel seek common ground in Paris talks
PARIS, France - French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in Paris on Thursday, May 30 in a bid to set aside their differences and find common ground on Europe's struggling economy.
The sit-down between the heads of the eurozone's two biggest economies comes with France expected to announce record unemployment figures later Thursday, after it fell into recession in the first 3 months of this year.
The discussions, which come ahead of an EU summit at the end of June, are aimed at reviving a longstanding tradition of France and Germany presenting a united front at meetings of European leaders.
Socialist Hollande and conservative Merkel have failed to follow the tradition since the French president's election last year, amid deep differences over how to tackle Europe's recession.
Hollande has pushed for growth measures and investment while Merkel has pressed an austerity-first policy that, while popular at home, has seen Germany come under increasing fire from crisis-hit countries in southern Europe.
With 6 million young people officially unemployed in Europe, tackling the region's youth jobs crisis is expected to figure high on the agenda, along with efforts to boost industrial competitiveness.
Merkel has called a Berlin gathering on youth unemployment on July 3 with Hollande and labor ministers from all EU member states, where an initiative is expected to be officially presented.
The two leaders were to spend about an hour Thursday hearing from a group of German and French industrialists on how to boost growth and competitiveness, before giving a joint press conference and having a working dinner.
They are also expected to touch on efforts to strengthen the management of the 17-nation eurozone, after Hollande earlier this month vowed to push a new "European economic government."
The difficulties faced by France's economy were expected to be highlighted later Thursday when authorities announce the number of officially registered jobseekers in April.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he expected the figures would "not be good," after the number of official jobseekers hit a record 3.224 million in March.
"We are coming out of a period of two quarters of recession in France and the entire eurozone. Under these conditions, the job market cannot start up again," Ayrault said.
Recognizing France's troubles, the European Union on May 29 granted the country an extra two years to meet deficit-reduction targets but said Paris needs to step up the pace of reforms, including of its costly pension system.
Hollande hit back that the European Commission could not "dictate" orders to Paris, sparking criticism from a leading member of Merkel's conservatives that underlined lingering Franco-German tensions.
Andreas Schockenhoff said it was the Commission's "obligatory duty" to submit reform proposals because of France's importance in Europe.
"Hollande's criticism is, in this respect, inappropriate," Schockenhoff, the CDU's deputy chairman in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, said in a written statement.
"Hollande's severe reaction shows the considerable desperation that, one year after coming to power, his government has still not found effective answers to the economic and fiscal problems of their country," Schockenhoff said. - Rappler.com
