BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s Angela Merkel has offered her most detailed response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s ideas for reforming Europe, seeking to avert a damaging rift with Paris at a time of high anxiety over Italy and growing transatlantic tensions.
With the clock ticking down to a European Union summit this month at which Merkel and Macron have promised to present a joint plan for overhauling Europe, the German chancellor gave an extensive newspaper interview on Sunday that touched on reform of the euro zone as well as defense and asylum policy.
She has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks for failing to engage with Macron, who campaigned on a pledge to reform Europe and has sketched out his ambitious vision in a series of speeches over the past year.
Pressure on the EU to show a united front has grown following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull Washington out of the Iran nuclear deal and to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports.
Top exporter Germany is especially vulnerable to a trade conflict with the United States and several analysts said the threats from Washington had given the notoriously cautious Merkel added incentive to reach out to Macron.
“This is a typical Merkel move,” said Henrik Enderlein, director of the Jacques Delors Institut in Berlin. “She’s on the defensive, people say she’s not going to do anything, and then she pulls something out of her hat.”
CLARITY
In the interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), Merkel offered clarity about Germany’s stance on a number of key issues:
- She backed the
