(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron will be disappointed if he expects Germany's next government to drum up more goodwill for his European reform plans in this week's talks, according to four people familiar with the current coalition negotiations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union-led bloc and its prospective Social Democratic Party partner are not planning any fundamental changes to their proposals on Europe's future as set out in a preliminary agreement reached Jan. 12, according to the people, who represent all three parties involved in the talks. All asked not to be named as the negotiations are private and ongoing.
The Hurdles That Remain to Merkel's Fourth Term: QuickTake Q&A
Representatives of Merkel's CDU, its Christian Social Union sister party and Martin Schulz's Social Democrats met in the Chancellery in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss Europe policy. While Schulz hailed the outcome as a “fresh start” for Europe, details were in short supply.
The negotiators didn't go much beyond those measures already agreed, one of the people attending the meeting said. These include higher German contributions to the EU budget; expanding the European Stability Fund (ESM) into a European Monetary Fund; and a European framework for minimum wages. The SPD proposed giving the EU its own means to raise revenue, whether by taxes or tolls, prompting Merkel's bloc to warn against a debate over tax increases, the person said.
On a visit to Macron in Paris on Jan. 19, Merkel said the coalition's common Europe plans contained “desired ambiguities,” since any attempt to agree on the final details now would reduce the room to negotiate. In reality, her CDU/CSU and the SPD, as the Social Democrats are known in German, have different interpretations of the proposals, and these divergent positions are likely to bubble up in the coming months in the debate over euro-area reform.
--With assistance from Patrick Donahue Rainer Buergin and Arne Delfs
To contact the reporter on this story: Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net.
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
