PARIS (AP)— French President Emmanuel Macron said he would work closely with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a “road map” of reforms for the European Union and the eurozone.
Speaking at the side of the German leader in Berlin, Macron said that they need to work on “deep reforms that are necessary and need common work.”
Macron said in addition he plans to push for economic reforms in France in the coming months in order to fight the country’s high unemployment rate.
He said he will implement a reform agenda at home “not because Europe requests it, but because France needs it.”
He said the government he will appoint on Tuesday will start working on the issue.
Merkel wants ‘New dynamism’
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a “new dynamism” in German-French relations, saying that the two countries’ interests are closely tied together.
Merkel told Emmanuel Macron during his first foreign visit as president Monday that “Europe will only do well if there is a strong France, and I am committed to that.”
Merkel said it was an honor that Macron chose to visit Berlin during his first full day in office, and said the countries’ ministers would meet after an upcoming French legislative vote.
She said the two talked about the European asylum system, trade relations and other issues.
Merkel says: “We each represent the interests of our own countries, but the interests of Germany are naturally closely tied to the interests of France.”
New Prime Minister
French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Edouard Philippe, a relatively unknown 46-year-old lawmaker, as prime minister, making good on campaign promises to repopulate French politics with new faces.
Alexis Kohler, Macron’s new general secretary at the presidential Elysee Palace, made the announcement Monday.
Philippe is the mayor of the Normandy port of Le Havre, a trained lawyer and an author of political thrillers. He’s also a member of the mainstream-right Republicans party that was badly battered by Macron’s victory in the presidential campaign.
Philippe’s appointment ticks several boxes for the 39-year-old Macron, France’s youngest president, who took power on Sunday. Philippe’s age reinforces the generational shift in France’s corridors of power and the image of youthful vigor that Macron is cultivating.
Philippe could also attract other Republicans to Macron’s cause as the centrist president works to piece together a majority in parliament to pass his promised economic reforms.
