Macron meets Merkel in first overseas visit

His appointment marks a milestone in the rebuilding of France’s political landscape, which has been dynamited by the election of Mr Macron – the first president of modern France not from the country’s mainstream left or right parties.

His choice of prime minister will be crucial in building confidence, with the 46-year-old centre-right Edouard Philippe from the Republicans party seen as the favourite for the job.

While Macron was greeted by a small cheering crowd at the gates of the chancellery in Berlin, his May 7 election was also followed by newspaper headlines in Germany including “How much will Macron cost us?” and “The Expensive Friend”.

Freshly elected French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are the new power couple leading the charge against anti-European populists and trying to put the struggling EU back on track, analysts say.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel dealt a devastating blow to her main rival on Sunday, four months before national elections, when early results showed her party securing a strong win in a regional vote in Germany’s biggest state.

“What I know is that we have investments to make [in Europe], and so we have to work on investment mechanisms for the future”, the French leader added.

“I am happy that we can work together on a common roadmap for the European Union and the Euro Zone”, he said. Crucially, both leaders said they were open to the idea of changing the EU’s treaties. But both leaders said they could tackle treaty change.

“We need to re-establish the European project”, said the French president, who added that for this change to occur it is necessary to “repair the trust” in the “historic relationship” between Paris and Berlin, while Merkel spoke of giving the two countries a “new dynamic” and a “new push”.

In a sign that she was prepared to discuss far-reaching changes to.

He intends to press for the creation of a parliament and budget for the eurozone which would see Germany, the zone’s richest member, contribute funds to support economic growth in weaker nations.

“Macron clarified his position, saying he did not want Eurobonds or the mutualisation of (eurozone) debt” said Demesmay, referring to the pooling of funding and the build up of previous loans.

He sought on Monday to show solidarity with Germany on the migrant crisis – an issue on which Merkel has pressed for European Union countries to work together – by saying that a common asylum policy was one area where Paris could cooperate with Berlin.

Macron also declared there needs to be “a Europe that protects our citizens better”.

In part that’s because Berlin is overwhelmingly relieved that it’s not Marine Le Pen walking up the red carpet.

Merkel, however, seemed keen to give Macron’s proposals consideration.

Last week Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) – junior partner in Merkel’s coalition – accused Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of the CDU of trying to “torpedo” Macron’s European Union reform plans for political reasons ahead of Germany’s election in September.

Euro zone bailout fund European Financial Stability Facility is widely expected to sell long-dated bonds this week, and Slovenia is selling bonds maturing in 2027 and 2040 on Tuesday.