Merkel Vows to Work With Macron on Road Map to Strengthen EU

(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to work together to strengthen the European Union and region’s economy.

“We have agreed that we want to develop a road map, a road map for the EU’s medium term perspective, projects that cannot be created overnight,” Merkel told reporters Monday during a joint press conference with Macron in Berlin. “We can give the whole situation a new dynamic. I am aware of the responsibility at this critical moment that we make the right decisions.”

Merkel, 62, is hosting Macron, 39, at the chancellery on his first full day as president. Merkel has embraced Macron as a pro-European leader who offers a chance for France to carry out labor-market changes and address its competitiveness gap with Germany. Following their joint news conference, where they exchanged warm words with one another, the two will dine together.

The leaders, who said they were ready to consider EU treaty changes, plan to hold a joint cabinet meeting in July as part of effort to reinvigorate the German-French relationship at the core of the euro area. Macron told reporters that he intends to be “frank, constructive” with Germany.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net, Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net, Mark Deen in Berlin at markdeen@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Chad Thomas, Tony Czuczka