BERLIN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Germany's new foreign minister Heiko Maas (SPD) has signalled his country's openness to French proposals for the reform of the European Union (EU) on Wednesday night.
Shortly after a formal ceremony at the German foreign office to mark his ministerial inauguration, the new foreign minister met with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian to demonstrate the high priority which the next government attaches to European affairs.
Germany was ready to "finally embrace the hand which Emmanuel Macron has extended with his proposals for the renewal of Europe," Maas told press.
Berlin and Paris would now start cooperating swiftly to reinvigorate the EU after a protracted process of German government formation.
German FM Maas did not comment on remaining disagreement between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU) and German Social Democrats (SPD) on EU reforms, but noted that all legislation would be grounded in the framework of the "very pro-European" grand coalition agreement.
Maas expressed confidence that upcoming talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) and their French colleagues in Paris would consequently mark the beginning of constructive and more detailed discussions on EU reform.
While stating that Berlin did not have a "fixed position" on the subject, the foreign minister praised Macron's proposals as offering a good foundation for changes to be made in the governance of the bloc. Amongst others, the French president has called for the creation of a shared eurozone budget, finance ministry and parliament.
Appearing on the public broadcaster "ZDF" recently, Merkel said that her government was ready to raise the level of German financial contributions to the EU. She warned, however, that there would not be a "simple mutualisation of debt" and that the nation states would retain their dominant position as sovereign actors in Brussels.
Regardless of the outcome of early German-French negotiations on EU reform, Maas has committed to a busy schedule of early travels which will also take him to Poland in the course of the week. The new foreign minister emphasized on Wednesday night that it would be "wrong" and "potentially dangerous" for Berlin to keep a low diplomatic profile in light of tumultuous developments in international relations.
