PARIS — Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, on Tuesday called for closer coordination of economic policy among the 17 countries that share the euro currency and proposed that they enshrine in their constitutions an obligation to balance their national budgets. Amid a backdrop of official figures showing that economic growth in the heart of Europe is slowing and investors growing wary of a deepening debt crisis across the region, the two announced a series of proposals that they said were aimed at defending economic growth and strengthening the competitiveness of euro zone countries.
Ms. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy vowed to set an example for other euro zone members by harmonizing their national policies on corporate income taxes and to establish a common tax on financial transactions by 2013. In addition, they said, French and German finance ministry officials would meet quarterly to share economic forecasts and coordinate policy.
Read more:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/business/global/merkel-arrives-in-paris-to-begin-economic-talks-with-sarkozy.html?_r=1&hp
