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On Feb. 25, Germany said the March 3 minisummit between Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Germany was postponed because of Sarkozy’s “busy agenda.” The two sides had been in disagreement over France’s proposal to create a Mediterranean Union, a concept that Germany, which would be left out of the project, said would eventually fracture the European Union.
But a further Franco-German split was revealed when German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck said Feb. 26 his biannual meeting with his French counterpart Christine Lagarde was canceled as well. The finance ministers’ rift reveals a split between the two countries on how the European Union should handle a strong euro and struggling countries.
Currently, the euro is at record strength, stoking controversy among the 15 countries that share the currency, but especially between France and Germany. France is the eurozone’s second-largest economy, but that economy is not in good shape. French companies’ exports have become less competitive on the international market due to the euro’s strength, and the French trade deficit has swelled in the past year to more than $59 billion.
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