Merkel, Hollande meet amid Greek debt crisis
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have held talks in Berlin amid ongoing negotiations over the Greek debt crisis in a bid to consider steps to forge a single digital market in Europe.
The working dinner on Monday between the the two European Union leaders was also intended to coordinate the development of new energy policy in the region as well as measures to improve youth employment, DPA reported.
However, Greece may also be part of the discussions in Berlin, according to German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, who also insisted on Monday that it would not be the top agenda of the meeting.
The event was also attended by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Benoit Potier, who chairs the so-called European Round Table of Industrialists.
In remarks leading up to the Berlin talks, the leaders called for efforts to overcome the existing fragmented nature of Europe's digital market.
Potier along with Hollande have underlined the need to ensure that investors seeking to launch internet startups have the support to protect their investments.
"The meeting was the beginning of a process," said Potier, whose organization represents nearly 50 European multi-national corporations. The leaders, however, did not comment on the persisting standoff between cash-strapped Greece and its creditors.
The Berline talks, however, were overshadowed by the growing tensions between Greece and its international creditors over a debt arrangement as well as concerns that Athens may soon run out of funds.
This is while Hollande and Merkel reportedly held a telephone conference on Sunday with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, with German officials describing the discussions as constructive.
However, Tsipras lashed out at Greek's creditors in a Monday column in the French daily Le Monde, saying they were bent on imposing "a harsh punishment" on Athens and describing his nation as "a victim" of the EU’s neoliberalism.
MFB/MHB/AS
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