Merkel, Sarkozy meet over eurozone crisis
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Xinhua, October 20, 2011
German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy Wednesday to discuss a solution to the eurozone debt crisis, but failed to reach any concrete agreement on the issue.
As duo engines of the eurozone economic powerhouse, Paris and Berlin are at odds over how to step up the efficacy of the eurozone bailout fund, with both sides attempting to break the deadlock ahead of a make-or-break European leaders' summit on Sunday.
France advocates leveraging the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) by turning it into a bank accessible to the funding from the ECB, only to confront the opposition from both the ECB and German government.
"In Germany, the coalition is divided on this issue," Sarkozy said after the meeting.
His comments fueled doubts about whether eurozone leaders will be able to agree a clear and convincing plan when they meet on Sunday.
Both leaders attended an honor gala to bid farewell to Jean-Claude Trichet, who turns 69 in December and will formally retire as president of the European Central Bank (ECB). He will be succeeded by Italy's 62-year-old economist Mario Draghi.
In addressing the gala meeting, Merkel expressed her full confidence that European countries would get out of the current eurozone debts crisis by its own efforts.
