French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire met with his German counterpart, Olaf Scholz, in Paris on June 8 to discuss euro zone reforms. But differences remain on how to balance French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for more solidarity in Europe.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, has insisted that tax payers in richer EU member states should not end up paying for government failures in poorer ones.
“We discussed all outstanding issues and made substantial progress, exchanging papers and talking throughout the night,” a French official was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. “We still have some work to do before being able to agree on a roadmap.”
A German finance ministry spokesman said: “We have made significant progress with our French friends towards a reform proposal for the euro zone and we will continue our talks next week.”
According to Reuters, the French official confirmed that both ministers agreed to continue their negotiations during the week, probably by video conference.
