The European commission announced moves today to shore up the euro and ward off market pressure on Greece by considering a ban on complex derivatives allegedly being used to undermine the single currency. The draconian move suggested by José Manuel Barroso, commission president, follows a joint campaign by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French

The latest document released by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in preparation of the 30 January European summit is a sad example of micromanagement of the EU Commission and Council, a prominent Brussels-based political analyst told EurActiv. More »

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected a proposal by the European Commission to introduce an EU-level tax to help fund the Union's budget after 2013.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed plans for an IMF-style European Monetary Fund to bailout struggling countries, but warned that establishing such a fund would require EU treaty change and the agreement of all 27 member states. “I find the idea good and interesting”, Merkel said, according to EUobserver.

Focus reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted that EU Treaty changes are the only way to achieve the kind of EU budgetary surveillance and discipline measures Berlin is seeking. “We need a stronger oversight mechanism for the stability and growth pact and the European Commission can only make suggestions below treaty change,” said Merkel.

Yesterday I managed to find the full text of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s speech on Europe at the Humboldt University and to post it on this blog in Merkel’s Germany: The European Union mainstream? Now is the time for some impressions. Limits The first things that come to mind are the limits set by Merkel, on the scope of the speech and the European agenda. Nine years ago, then Foreign M...

The German government has now posted the text of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s speech on Europe at the Humboldt University 27 May 2009. Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union, its language the most spoken first language in the EU. Germany has been an engine of European integration (together with France), but it has been described as less European and more German since t...

The 'Europe 2020' strategy recently presented by the European Commission needs clearer indicative goals and should be more social and cohesive, Bulgarian socialist leader Sergey Stanishev told EurActiv in an interview.

Today’s meeting showed that Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy want progress at the European Council meeting 18 to 19 June 2009. The press conference was a show of quiet determination. Merkel and Sarkozy want to push for: • The nomination of José Manuel Barroso to become the President of the Commission, with a programme, and subj...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government called for unity yesterday (1 July) after rebels forced a humiliating vote over the presidency that could lead to a watering down of her austerity package. EurActiv Germany contributed to this article.