ZCZC
BCN-23
EU-FRANCE-GERMANY-BUDGET
Paris, Berlin agree on future eurozone budget: French ministry source
PARIS, Nov 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – France and Germany have agreed on the broad
outlines of a proposed eurozone budget which they will present to EU finance
ministers in Brussels on Monday, a French finance ministry source said.
The common single-currency budget was one of French President Emmanuel
Macron’s key ideas for protecting the euro, but it caused differences between
France and Germany, the region’s two largest economies.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Germany’s minister, Olaf Scholz,
will “jointly present a proposition on Monday… about the layout for a
budget for the eurozone,” the ministry source told AFP.
“It’s a major step forward,” the source said. “We will look forward to
sharing with other members.”
The source said the amount of the budget has not been established as the
proposal was to first set out the “architecture and main principles” of the
budget.
According to a copy of the French-German proposal, the budget would be part
of the EU budget structure and governed by the 19 euro members.
Macron will travel to Berlin at the weekend to meet with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel where the two leaders will bolster their alliance as champions
of a united Europe.
BSS/AFP/SR/1735 HRS