Merkel and Macron to unveil EU roadmap at June summit
David Martin
March 16, 2018
Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have said the reform plan must confront the challenges posed by Brexit and rising populism in the EU. The two leaders also commented on Russia's alleged nerve agent attack in Salisbury.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Maxppp/C. Petit Tesson
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared on Friday to welcome France's calls for bold eurozone reforms, saying that greater cohesion was required across the bloc.
"On fostering economic and monetary union, we need to bear in mind that we need to stabilize the euro," Merkel said at a press conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday. "In our joint-European policy, we want to show results. As Europeans we will be unbeatable if we remain united."
After holding talks in the Elysee Palace, the leaders announced the two countries would hold a series of meetings on a range of policy areas ahead of the European leaders' summit in June.
"This is our task by June: on the eurozone, on migration policy, defense, trade, research, education and large areas that we have been able to set out," Macron said. "We will propose a clear, ambitious roadmap for this refoundation by June."
The French president added: "This opens an important chapter over the next three months, and an important chapter for Europe's long-term prospects."
Confronting Europe's challenges
Merkel and Macron said that a cohesive reform would push the EU to confront the many challenges it faces — from Brexit to the ongoing rise of populism, most recently reflected in this month's elections in Italy.
"We do not always have the same opinions at first but France and Germany have accomplished a lot together in the past," the chancellor said. "We now want to find common paths ahead. I am determined to get there and I think we can do it. It is more necessary than ever that Europe be united in a geopolitical situation in which multilateralism is under pressure."
Both Merkel and Macron also denounced Russia's alleged poisoning of a former agent in the UK and reiterated their support for the British government on the issue.
Merkel said that the UK's European allies would ask the international organizations to intervene, while "we adopt the best possible response to this attack."
Macron opened Friday's press conference by congratulating Merkel on her re-election, adding that France was pleased with the political decision taken by the German public. "I have to tell you that the joy was all ours when it ended well," Macron told his German counterpart.
Merkel jokingly apologized for keeping the French president waiting for some six months, but quipped that "sometimes waiting is worth it."
The chancellor said that her new coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) would mark a new breakthrough for Europe, and that it came about largely as a response to the situation in France.
By contrast, Merkel's partners in the Christian Democrats have, at best, been lukewarm towards the idea, but now appear to agree that reforms of some kind are necessary to boost the EU's economic strugglers and stem the populist tides in the south and east of the bloc.
Ministers under Merkel: Germany's new government
The conservative CDU and CSU formed a "grand coalition" government with the center-left SPD in March 2018. DW takes a look at who's who in Chancellor Angela Merkel's fourth Cabinet.
Image: picture alliance/SvenSimon/E. Kremser
Chancellor: Angela Merkel (CDU)
Christian Democrat (CDU) Angela Merkel is Germany's chancellor. She is in her fourth term as leader of the German government and in her third at the head of a "grand coalition" between the CDU, its conservative Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democrats (SPD). Merkel says she will not run for chancellor at the next general election in 2021.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Minister of the Interior, Heimat and Construction: Horst Seehofer (CSU)
Seehofer was Bavaria's state premier until he took over the interior portfolio in Merkel's Cabinet. This will be the first time that the vaguely patriotic "Heimat" concept (roughly "homeland") is included in the interior minister's domain. Bavaria, however, has had a state Heimat Ministry for five years. Seehofer remains head of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria.
Image: Reuters/M. Rehle
Minister for Foreign Affairs: Heiko Maas (SPD)
Former Justice Minister Heiko Maas succeeded his Social Democrat colleague, Sigmar Gabriel, as foreign minister in March. Maas was in charge of the Justice Ministry when the government passed a controversial internet law to combat hate speech online.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler
Finance Minister: Olaf Scholz (SPD)
Scholz served as mayor of Hamburg before moving to Berlin to take the reins at the Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry's capture was a significant win for the SPD. Scholz will also serve as vice-chancellor. He had been in Merkel's Cabinet once before, as minister of labor and social affairs from 2007 to 2009.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Sabrowsky
Minister of Defense: Ursula von der Leyen (CDU)
Von der Leyen has been defense minister since 2013 and kept her job in the new government. This comes despite numerous scandals within the Bundeswehr, Germany's military, that broke since she took over the Defense Ministry. Her relationship with the troops suffered, but Merkel trusts her.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Lübke
Economic and Energy Affairs Minister: Peter Altmaier (CDU)
Altmaier was Merkel's chief of staff at the Chancellery before his nomination to take over the Economy Ministry. The last time a CDU politician was in the post was half a century before. Altmaier is regarded as extremely loyal to the chancellor.
Image: Getty Images/M. Tantussi
Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection: Katarina Barley (SPD)
Katarina Barley took over as justice minister after serving as both minister of family affairs and labor in the previous government. The 49-year-old is a lawyer by training and holds both British and German citizenship.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs: Hubertus Heil (SPD)
Hubertus Heil succeeded Andrea Nahles, who stepped down to take over as head of the SPD. A member of the Bundestag since 1998, Heil has twice served as the party's secretary general.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Minister for the Environment: Svenja Schulze (SPD)
Svenja Schulze replaced party colleague Barbara Hendricks, Germany's former minister for the environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety, in March. Schulze previously served as minister for innovation, science and research in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R.Vennenbernd
Minister for Health: Jens Spahn (CDU)
Jens Spahn, 37, is representative of a new political generation within the CDU and seen as a future contender for party leadership. In the last government, he served as the parliamentary state secretary in the Finance Ministry. Prior to that, he helped lead the CDU's health policy in the Bundestag.
Image: Getty Images
Minister of Education and Research: Anja Karliczek (CDU)
Anja Karliczek, a former hotel manager who is relatively unknown, was nominated by Merkel to take over the Education Ministry. She had a lot of money to spend: The ministry's budget was increased by €11 billion ($13.6 billion) to pay for school and university improvements shortly before her appointment.
Image: imago/M. Popow
Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth: Franziska Giffey (SPD)
Franziska Giffey's elevation from the mayor of Berlin's Neukölln district to cabinet minister was perhaps one of the most eye-catching appointments. Giffey bypassed the Bundestag altogether to ascend into government. But the SPD leadership believed her experience in charge of what has often been described as Berlin's "troubled" district made her the most suitable candidate for the role.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development: Gerd Müller (CSU)
Gerd Müller, 62, retained his post as development minister, which he has held since December 2013. He won the job over fellow CSU member Dorothee Bär, who was also in the running. Bär became the state minister for digital affairs in the chancellery, a newly created job.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure: Andreas Scheuer (CSU)
Scheuer, considered a close ally of CSU party head Seehofer, took over the Transport Ministry from party colleague Alexander Dobrindt. He is experienced in the field: From 2009 to 2013, he was parliamentary state secretary in the Transport Ministry. Prior to his latest appointment, he was the CSU's secretary general.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Minister for Food and Agriculture: Julia Klöckner (CDU)
Klöckner previously worked as parliamentary state secretary in the Agriculture Ministry from 2009 to 2011. Between her ministerial stints in Berlin, she was deputy chair of the CDU and headed the CDU in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Image: imago/Future Image/J.xKrickx
Chief of Staff at the Chancellery: Helge Braun (CDU)
Helge Braun took over from CDU colleague Peter Altmaier as Chancellery head in March. He had previously served in deputy positions in the Chancellery and Education Ministry.
