At the Federal Chancellery, Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who was visiting Berlin for the first time since taking office. In addition to the reforms in France, their talks covered migration policy and cooperation in cutting-edge fields.

Encouragement for reforms

Angela Merkel wished the Prime Minister "strength and success" in the labour market reforms launched by the new French government, which are currently at a critical stage. In Germany, she said after their talks, we are all too aware of the fact that "reforms of this sort are never easy to implement". She is sure, however, that the reforms will generate positive outputs for the people in France, although experience shows that these results "are not immediate; there is always a time lag".

Migration – fighting the root causes of displacement

Angela Merkel and Édouard Philippe broached the questions of migration and refugees. As recently discussed at the four-way meeting held in Paris, the aim is to address the root causes of displacement, so that the people of Africa have hope of a better future, explained the Chancellor. We must put a stop to the activities of smugglers and human traffickers. The EU-Turkey Agreement is a good example, she pointed out. It is in the best interests of the refugees, of Turkey, of Germany and of Europe, she declared.

More attention should be paid to strategic matters

The Prime Minister and the Chancellor also agreed to "focus more together on strategic matters". She gave the example of chip production, artificial intelligence in robotics and the transformation in the automobile industry. She believes that these are areas in which "Germany and France could achieve even more together" – partly also to demonstrate that sector-specific cooperation in cutting-edge technological fields is a strategic strength of the EU.

Criteria for the eurozone must be met

Another item on the agenda of their meeting was the proposals made by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, regarding the future of the European Union. Commenting on his proposals for the eurozone, the Chancellor stressed that although the goal is to welcome as many countries as possible into the eurozone, it is important that they "meet the criteria for membership".

"Everyone who meets the criteria can join the eurozone," affirmed the Chancellor. She pointed out that it is an economic and monetary union. Although member states have a common currency, the economic policies pursued by member states are still not coherent. That makes it so important for member states to cooperate on research, strategic investment and trade policy, she said, areas she had discussed with Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.

Moving beyond the rhetoric

It is also important to consider developing and strengthening the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), making it more a European monetary fund, said Angela Merkel. She added that she could visualise a European finance minister. It is, however, important, she believes "to move beyond the rhetoric, with buzzwords such as economic governance, European finance minister and eurozone budget, and get to the substance".

In principle the Chancellor believes that Jean-Claude Juncker’s recent suggestion that more countries join the Schengen Area is "a good idea". Bulgaria, for instance, has a common border with Turkey, which means that it is in the interests of Germany and Europe if Bulgaria meets the criteria to join. As is the case with the euro, though, here too "the criteria must be met" said Angela Merkel.