German chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian allies (CSU) struck a preliminary deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Friday (12 January) to open formal coalition talks.
On Europe, the agreement aims to kickstart the Franco-German tandem driving EU policies and integration by welcoming France's president Emmanuel Macron's reform ideas.
"The renewal of the EU will only succeed if Germany and France work together with all their strength. That is why we want to further strengthen and renew German-French cooperation," the 28-page text , agreed after 24 hours of marathon talks, said. EU Observer.
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