Berlin - The new German coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel is in turmoil over the issue of state aid for Opel, while other EU states with Opel factories have pledged more than a billion euros (1.49 billion dollars), a magazine repor...
A panel of top German economists, which has slammed the country's huge public debt, says Chancellor Angela Merkel's new government should take back its "gift baskets" of tax relief, a German weekly reported. Merkel "promised us that the government would do everything so that our gloomy forecasts would not happen... They can therefore pack up again their beautiful gift baskets,"...
Tony Blair warned Gordon Brown a week ago that his campaign to become the first president of the European Council was doomed after a decisive intervention by the German chancellor Angela Merkel, according to senior Whitehall sources. To the dismay of key ministers, who wanted Brown to push for Britain to take an economic portfolio in the European commission once Blair's hopes were dashed, Brown insisted...
Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the appointment of the EU's two new top officials on Friday, saying she had full trust in EU President Herman Van Rompuy and foreign policy High Representative Catherine Ashton. The chancellor appr...
As questions, criticism and dismay swiftly followed the announcements of the first permanent EU president and foreign representative, European leaders have dismissed these concerns, praising the qualifications of the appointees. "We got a candidate who brings consensus and whose political competence have long been tested and tried throughout his political career," said German Chancellor Angela...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Friday for all countries to fix binding climate change targets next year at the latest, acknowledging that no such deal is likely at global talks in Copenhagen next month.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Friday for all countries to fix binding climate change targets next year at the latest, acknowledging that no such deal is likely at global talks in Copenhagen next month.
Gordon Brown abandons support for Blair as leaders of the EU's dominant centre-right bloc make clear they will only support a member of their own grouping Tony Blair tonight bowed out of the race to become the first president of the European Council when it became clear that centre-right leaders, who dominate the EU, are determined that the post should go to their group. Gordon Brown abandoned his...
Brussels - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday urged fellow European Union leaders to rally behind the most suitable candidates for the bloc's top posts. We need suitable candidates and broad consensus, Merkel said as she arrived in Bruss...
Opposing groups try to find consensus on who should take presidential and foreign minister roles ahead of Brussels summit The leaders of Europe's main political tribes conferred in Brussels this afternoon in an attempt to hammer out a last-minute consensus on who should be the top two people running the EU's new Lisbon regime ahead of a crucial Brussels summit. While Christian democratic government...
Is Tony Blair about to make the most remarkable political come back since Winston Churchill? The Blair Camp is playing down his chance of being chosen as the new President of the EU council variously putting it at “1 in 10” and “less than likely”. But the fact remains – as Sky News has consistently reported unlike almost all our British rivals – that the name of...
Germany and France are to strike a deal on who they want for the coveted post of first permanent European council president, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced today, sparking anger in other European capitals over a feared Franco-German stitch-up. With 27 EU leaders going into a special summit tomorrow increasingly at odds over the twin posts of European Council president and EU foreign minister,...
Berlin - Germany plans to team up with France in the final choice of a leadership for the reformed European Union (EU), German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after a cabinet meeting near Berlin Wednesday. Though she did not mention any names, she said...
Berlin - Germany's parliament is to be asked soon to roll over authorization for the German military to operate abroad in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and off the coast of Lebanon, Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet decided Wednesday. Germany has ...
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's most striking problem at the start of her new government is not the economy, an unpopular war or the opposition: it's a 66-year-old, 6-foot blonde in her own Christian Democrats, Erika Steinbach.