The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, find themselves in a forced marriage in these days of economic crisis.

The economic and financial crises call for a courageous response rather than technical, "pernickety rules", write French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a joint editorial published in the Sunday newspapers.

Following a meeting in Berlin on 14 June, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to put forward a compromise plan for an "economic government" of the EU. EurActiv Germany contributed to this article.

Following a tense meeting yesterday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou confirmed that the referendum he surprisingly announced on Monday would effectively decide on whether Greece would remain in the eurozone.

Handelsblatt reports that Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are split over whether a new Treaty designed to impose greater fiscal discipline and control in the eurozone should be agreed by all 27 member states, or through a separate Treaty involving the 17 eurozone countries only.

Following a meeting in Paris yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy both pledged to press ahead with enhanced integration in the eurozone. However, the meeting yielded few, if any, concrete proposals for tackling the eurozone immediate crisis.

Chancellor and prime minister have been encouraged by talks in Berlin between Angela Merkel, German chancellor, and Nicolas Sarkozy, French president

Following yesterday’s phone conference with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a joint statement that they were “convinced that the future of Greece is in the euro area”, in a further bid to dismiss talk of Greece being forced to leave the eurozone.

Media reports across Europe note that Tony Blair’s prospects of becoming President of the European Council are diminishing, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a dinner on Wednesday appear to have decided that the post should go to a centre-right politician.

Stock markets fell across Europe yesterday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday announced their backing for a financial transaction tax. Reuters quotes Chancellor Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert saying, “When you look at the measures the Chancellor and Sarkozy presented yesterday, many of them affect all 27 and that is the intention w...