France and Germany commit to protect the Euro

France and Germany commit to protect the Euro

2010-12-11 02:30:57 GMT+7 (ICT)

FREIBURG, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the single European currency (Euro), German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.

The French leader said that Germany and France will defend the Euro, saying 'the currency is Europe.' On the other hand, Merkel said that the intention is to unite all EU member states because if the Euro fails, the EU will fail too.

Sarkozy and Merkel met in Freiburg, Germany, ahead of the European Union summit that will take place next week. Both leaders also pledged to better align their tax and labor policies and rejected calls for increasing the bloc's rescue fund and joint sovereign bonds.

"French and German citizens would not be happy if we were to bundle the debts together," the French president said, according to Deutsche Welle. "The concept might be worth considering in the future, but only after the bloc's members ramp up their economic and political cooperation."

Both Merkel and Sarkozy said that both nations will present structural proposals next year in the area of economic coordination. More details regarding this announcement were not immediately released.

Friday's meeting was in preparation for the EU summit in Brussels on December 16 and 17, at which the bloc's economic difficulties such as unemployment and national debt are on top of the agenda.

Pressure on high-deficit EU members eased slightly last week after the European Central Bank (ECB) bought government bonds pushing down the borrowing costs of countries in southern Europe,

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