Germany’s Merkel Advocates German-French Cooperation in Meeting With Macron

Among names being bandied around for the top job in Macron’s first government, speculation is mostly centering on Edouard Philippe.

“We each represent the interests of our own countries, but the interests of Germany are naturally closely tied to the interests of France”, Mrs Merkel said.

“(The story about Trump and Russia) probably is playing out as a weaker dollar on the view that Trump may not be around long enough to deliver his tax reform, which is at least partially priced into the dollar”, said RBC Capital Markets currency strategist Adam Cole, in London.

Kritschner said the U-turn was a “declaration of political bankruptcy” in terms of both climate and manufacturing policy.

The freshly inaugurated French President embarked on an ambitious agenda on his first full day in office – naming a prime minister and then heading off to Germany on his first foreign visit. During his appearance with Merkel, he sought to drive home that he wasn’t coming to Germany asking for money and that he’s committed to modernizing the French economy.

“We will not achieve this target the way it looks at the moment”, Merkel said Monday during a meeting with her party (CDU) in Berlin.

Macron, at 39 the youngest-ever French president, also dismissed speculation by German media that he backed turning national debts of euro zone countries into a joint euro zone debt.

But some of Mr Macron’s ideas about economic reform have raised eyebrows in Berlin – in an election year Angela Merkel won’t risk anything which voters might perceive as a German bailout of struggling member states.

Macron may need the support of the center right to push through economic reforms.

Some in the party have argued in favour of an alliance with Macron.

But not everyone was pleased with the Philippe announcement.

But the proposals have sent alarm bells ringing in Berlin, and initial relief about his victory against far-right leader Marine Le Pen had quickly given way to fears about his reform plans.

Ironically, candidates of the right-wing populist United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which was the main cheerleader for Britain leaving the European Union, fared badly in the local elections and it is now teetering towards extinction as most of its high-profile leaders, including the enigmatic Nigel Farrage, have walked away from it, leaving the Conservatives to deal with the fall-out from last year’s referendum.

His appointment is a further blow to the Republicans, who have been trying to regroup after the presidential vote and prevent defections to Macron’s camp.

Mr Macron previously met Mrs Merkel when he visited Berlin in March as a candidate.

When Britain leaves the bloc in 2019, France will be the EU’s only member with nuclear weapons and a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Merkel, 62, has been chancellor since late 2005, when Jacques Chirac was French president.

Yet it remains to be seen if her approach would go down well in Germany, which is deeply averse to shouldering burdens of eurozone laggards.

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed a conservative prime minister in a move to broaden his political appeal and weaken his opponents before parliamentary elections in June.