Macron, Merkel agree on budget

Leaders say it offers safety net for eurozone member nations

BERLIN — The leaders of Germany and France agreed Tuesday to create a eurozone budget they hope will boost investment and provide a safety mechanism for the 19 nations using the euro currency, and also to seek a European solution to migration issues.

The announcement from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron came after a meeting in Berlin to coordinate the two major powers’ positions on the future of the European Union ahead of next week’s EU summit.

Though Merkel had been lukewarm on Macron’s idea of a European budget, in a declaration adopted by both leaders they said they had agreed upon a proposal to establish one aimed at “competitiveness and convergence.”

Merkel said the two agreed to enhance the effectiveness of the European Stability Mechanism, or ESM, which was established in 2012 to give eurozone nations access to financial assistance in the event of crisis.

Macron said details were being kept general on the budget idea at the moment, so that other member nations would be able to have their voices heard.

On migration, Merkel’s insistence on finding common European solutions to reducing migrant numbers and other issues has met stiff resistance in her own conservative bloc.

On Monday, a potential crisis was averted after Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and his Bavaria-only Christian Social Union agreed to give Merkel two weeks to make deals with other European countries on migrants.

In their joint declaration, the leaders cautioned that “if member states started to act unilaterally, this would end up in an overall increase of migration into Europe.”

Merkel told reporters she was still convinced Europe needed to work together to combat the causes of the refugee flow by helping improve conditions in the countries of origin.