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France to offer Germany concessions on "Club Med"
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to offer German Chancellor Angela Merkel fresh concessions on his planned Mediterranean Union on Monday to ease her concerns about the project, French officials said.
Merkel branded the original idea divisive because France envisaged a grouping of Mediterranean rim states, including its former North African colonies, drawing on EU funds while sidelining non-Mediterranean EU countries such as Germany.
France has already watered down the project, assuring European Union partners it will complement rather than replace the existing EU-Mediterranean framework, and symbolically renaming it 'Union for the Mediterranean'.
But German reservations about the plan have persisted, heightening tensions between Sarkozy and Merkel, who have also clashed over central bank independence and nuclear power.
Sarkozy planned to launch the union at a two-day summit in Paris on July 13-14, with Mediterranean states attending the first day and EU states joining them on France's national day.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to offer German Chancellor Angela Merkel fresh concessions on his planned Mediterranean Union on Monday to ease her concerns about the project, French officials said.
Merkel branded the original idea divisive because France envisaged a grouping of Mediterranean rim states, including its former North African colonies, drawing on EU funds while sidelining non-Mediterranean EU countries such as Germany.
France has already watered down the project, assuring European Union partners it will complement rather than replace the existing EU-Mediterranean framework, and symbolically renaming it 'Union for the Mediterranean'.
But German reservations about the plan have persisted, heightening tensions between Sarkozy and Merkel, who have also clashed over central bank independence and nuclear power.
Sarkozy planned to launch the union at a two-day summit in Paris on July 13-14, with Mediterranean states attending the first day and EU states joining them on France's national day.
Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
Jeremiah 33:3